How many monkeypox cases have been recorded in the West Midlands?

A new batch of monkeypox vaccines is set to be announced this month.

Cabinet member for health and social care Cllr Mariam Khan stated yesterday that Birmingham expects to receive a share of 80,000 vaccines that will be rolled out across the country.

The World Health Organisation advice is that anyone can get or pass monkeypox, but members of the LGBT+ community, particularly men, have been identified as most at risk.

Decline in monkeypox cases

Government data has shown a gradual decline in monkeypox cases in the UK this year with 3,439 confirmed cases between May 6 and September 16. The majority of cases in England, 69 per cent, were in London.

The West Midlands has had just 124 confirmed and highly probably cases since May 2022, with one new case since the last report on September 13. This is compared to 2,359 in London, which has had 24 new cases since the last report.

Are monkeypox vaccinations available?

At a health and social care committee meeting, Cllr Mariam Khan (Lab, Alum Rock) gave fellow councillors an update on monkeypox vaccines.

She said: “We are expecting a further rollout across the UK of around 80,000 more vaccines to be announced this month. I know that our director of public health will be having conversations to see how much will come into Birmingham and be able to allocate it to clinics so that people can use them.”

Assistant director of public health Mary Orhewere was also at the meeting. She added: “At the moment, we are getting as much vaccine as we need.

“You may be aware that about a month ago we introduced what we call factional dosing, so smaller doses are given slightly differently, based on some work that was done in North America.

“That means that the doses we have are able to go further because we give a smaller amount. So at the moment, we have a reasonable degree of confidence that we’ve got as much dose as we need to give out. We’ve done a lot of messaging in the relevant communities, so as much as people are coming forward, we are able to meet the demand.”

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