UK Health Secretary Ignored Advice To Replenish Stocks of Monkeypox Vaccine
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The Health Secretary of the United Kingdom, Thérèse Coffey, has been accused of “jeopardizing public health” after she decided not to secure extra monkeypox vaccines despite advice from officials.
Coffey decided not to purchase a recommended 70,000 extra doses of the monkeypox vaccine on 21 September, according to a report by the Financial Times. The UK health security agency (UKHSA) recommended the nation boost its supply of the vaccine to protect in the long-term against a potential resurgence of monkeypox.
However, Coffey reportedly declined to bolster the UK’s supply of monkeypox vaccines as there were concerns the additional doses didn’t represent value for money. The move left UKHSA officials “in shock”, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
So will I. The Government’s response to Monkeypox over the summer was flatfooted and unacceptable.
Incompetence is bad enough. A deliberate choice that jeopardises public health against official advice would be unconscionable. https://t.co/94JFxTJWPf
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) October 1, 2022
Leading health charities urged Thérèse Coffey to make dealing with monkeypox a top priority. Danny Beales, head of policy and campaigns at the National AIDS Trust, said there needed to be “urgent action of monkeypox” from Coffey as the “outbreak has not so far had the resources and attention it needs”.
The Terrence Higgins Trust wrote on Twitter that it hoped the report that Coffey rejected advice from health officials to stock up on monkeypox vaccines. The charity said such a decision “would be concerning and shortsighted in terms of the UK’s ongoing monkeypox response”.
“We need to secure vaccines while the opportunity is there,” the Terrence Higgins Trust said. “We will urgently raise this with the health secretary.”
We sincerely hope this isn’t true as it would be concerning and shortsighted in terms of the UK’s ongoing #monkeypox response.
We need to secure vaccines while the opportunity is there. We will urgently raise this with the Health Secretary.https://t.co/xEOoJOVVaL
— Terrence Higgins Trust (@THTorguk) October 1, 2022
