Health and Social Care Committee has urged the Secretary for State of Health and Social Care to ‘consider extending the mpox (monkeypox) vaccination programme’.
The Committee has written to Steve Barclay, highlighting the concerns about closure of the mpox vaccination programme, which is due to end for the first dose on 16 June and for the second dose on 31 July.
Steve Brine, Chair, Health and Social Care Committee wrote to the secretary on Monday (5 June) after the data published by the UKHSA last week showed an increase in cases of mpox in London.
In a letter to the secretary, he said: "‘I’m sure you will agree with me that vaccination is crucial to protect people and keep numbers of new cases down. With this in mind, I would urge you to consider extending the vaccination programme.
“I know that you will also agree that it’s vital to ensure that sexual health services are adequately paid to deliver the vaccinations as they are clearly an important part of the delivery network.”
According to the UKHSA report, in 2023 (up to 31 May 2023) there have been 21 cases of mpox reported in the UK. Of these, 20 were in England (10 cases were presumed to have acquired mpox in the UK, 8 were acquired outside the UK and 2 awaiting classification) and one was in Scotland (an imported case acquired outside the UK).
