It is not certain whether Luxembourg will have sufficient doses in order to vaccinate the number of people who have been advised to seek a monkeypox vaccine.
The Superior Council of Infectious Diseases issued recommendations regarding the monkeypox vaccine on 25 July. Luxembourg has since received 1,440 doses of the vaccine through the EU's joint procurement mechanism, which allocates doses on a pro rata basis.
In a response to a parliamentary question raised by Pirate MP Sven Clement, Minister of Health Paulette Lenert said Luxembourg had received fewer doses than initially requested. A second delivery of the vaccine is likely to take place before the end of the year, although Lenert was unable to provide details on the delivery date and quantity at this stage,
The Minister said it was currently not possible to confirm whether Luxembourg had sufficient doses to vaccinate all those who are considered eligible as per the Council's recommendations. This is because there are no exact statistics on the at-risk groups, making it difficult to estimate exactly how many doses are required. Much depends on the readiness of the groups to receive the vaccine, she added.
In order to make an estimate for the number of people at risk in Luxembourg, the authorities used data relating to France, where it was estimated around 250,000 people should receive the vaccine. This was adjusted in accordance with the Grand Duchy's population. However, Lenert noted that fewer people had come forward for the vaccine than was expected.
One option to vaccinate more people with the available doses would be to adjust the size of the dose offered to each individual. Lenert said she would check with the European Medicines Agency to see if this would be possible.
Monkeypox vaccinations have been available in Luxembourg since 16 August.
