As monkeypox vaccine is in short supply in the United States, thousands of foreigners, including Americans flock to Montreal to get their shots.
Canada’s second-largest city, located about 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of the US border in the province of Quebec, has decided to make the vaccine available to everyone it deems at risk. ackRobb Stilson, an art director from Denver, Colorado, took advantage of the opportunity during a visit to Montreal last week. “It’s very difficult in the United States to get vaccinated,” Stilson said as he stood in line to get a shot at a pop-up vaccination center with his husband and two daughters. “I have friends who waited 8 or 9 hours to get in.” Because contact tracing is difficult, authorities in Montreal decided to offer the vaccine to everyone at risk to limit the spread of the virus. “As tourists, they may be participating in activities that may expose them and so in a way, we’re fighting the pandemic by letting them get vaccinated here so they don’t spread the infection either here or when they go home.” Donald Winn, an infectious disease specialist at the McGill University Health Centre, told AFP. Since the vaccination campaign began in mid-May, as soon as the first cases of monkeypox were detected, Montreal has vaccinated 18,500 people, 13% of whom are foreigners. The goal is to administer 25,000 doses and vaccinate about 75-80 percent of the population considered at risk, particularly men who have sex with men or with multiple partners. “I hope the strategy used by the Montreal public health agency is a beacon for other public health agencies to use as a vaccination strategy,” added Vinh. In the western province of British Columbia, health authorities decided last week that they would no longer offer the vaccine to foreigners, citing limited supplies and the fact that it was becoming increasingly available in the United States. Faced with a shortage of available doses, US health authorities on Tuesday approved a new injection procedure that will allow five times as many people to be vaccinated with the same amount of drug. As of Aug. 11, Canada has recorded 1,059 confirmed cases of monkeypox, but authorities are seeing signs of infections starting to slow.
Vaccines available in Norway should be given to those exposed to monkeypox infection © 2022 AFP
Reference: Foreigners flock to Canada for monkeypox vaccine (2022, August 12) Retrieved August 13, 2022, from
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