Vaccination against monkeypox in Lille, northern France, on August 10, 2022. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge said they can eliminate human-to-human transmission of monkeypox in Europe but they need to urgently step up their efforts.

Catherine Smallwood, senior emergency officer and monkeypox incident manager at WHO/Europe said that in addition to the vaccine supply crunch, given the time it takes to deploy the vaccine and for it to take effect, the significant factors behind the slowdown appear to be earlier detection, which leads to patients isolating themselves sooner, and behavioral changes.

There are encouraging signs of a sustained decline in the onset of cases in many European countries, including France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Britain, as well as a slowdown in some parts of the United States, despite scarce vaccine supplies.