Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will bring a memo to Cabinet this morning on the purchase of additional monkeypox vaccines to support the ongoing vaccination programme, RTÉ News understands.
This follows a direct deal with the manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to buy 15,000 vaccine doses, which sources said will provide a significant boost to the programme.
Under the terms of the Agreement, the first 5,000 vaccine doses are due to become available in November with the remainder becoming available next year.
There have been 200 confirmed cases of monkeypox in Ireland since May and the HSE estimates that between 6,000 and 13,000 people at heightened risk may benefit from primary prevention vaccination.
The HSE is vaccinating through designated centres across the country.
The intradermal method of vaccination, recently approved, allows for a greater number of doses to be extracted from a single vaccine vial, meaning a greater number of people are being offered a vaccine than initially anticipated.
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