All men who have sex with more than one other man can now be vaccinated preventively against monkeypox in a center in Wallonia, Flanders or Brussels, the FPS Public Health announced on Friday, after a decision by the Risk Management Group (RMG).
So far, only men who have sex with men who have had at least one sexually transmitted disease in the past year, sex workers and transgender people, people with severe immune disorders, laboratory manipulating virus cultures and women receiving “PREP” therapy, to avoid HIV infection, could be vaccinated preventively.
It will also no longer be necessary to present a letter of reference from a general practitioner. The federated entities will communicate from next week how and when to make an appointment at a vaccination center. The switch to intradermal injection mode, which allows only a fifth of a dose to be used, with a second injection a few weeks later, as well as the “loan” of 1,500 additional doses from the Netherlands enabled this expansion of the vaccination campaign. An order for 30,000 additional doses is also expected in the fourth quarter. As of September 19, 2022, Belgium had 757 confirmed cases of monkeypox, including 394 in Flanders, 274 in Brussels and 89 in Wallonia.