TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said Saturday (July 2) that it is procuring vaccines and antiviral drugs to deal with the ongoing outbreak of monkeypox after the country reported its first imported case Epidemic in June.
Deputy Director Zhuang Renxiang told UDN that the agency is in talks with a supplier of antiviral drugs and a third-generation smallpox vaccine.
Chuang declined to disclose the vaccine doses being procured at this stage, citing “commercial confidentiality.” A vaccine and antiviral drugs will be available by the end of the year, he said.
The official also dismissed rumors that the agency plans to buy only 250 doses of the vaccine and 150 antiviral pills. It said the volume would be announced after the deal is closed.
“Once the vaccine and pills arrive, they will first be given to front-line medical staff treating monkeypox patients and laboratory researchers who may have been exposed to the virus,” he said.
In a June 30 news release, the CDC wrote that of the 55 countries reporting monkeypox infections, only 11 had imported cases, including Taiwan. A Taiwanese man in his 20s who had studied in Germany for six months was confirmed as the first monkeypox case in Taiwan after returning to China in mid-June.
