MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Microgen, Russia’s smallpox vaccine developer and manufacturer, can produce around ten million vaccine doses a year and can increase production by several times within a year, if need be, Rostec press service told TASS on Thursday.
"Rostec is ready to increase smallpox vaccine production if need be. This vaccine is manufactured by Microgen, which is incorporated into our Nacimbio pharmaceutical holding. The company can now manufacture around ten million vaccine doses a year. But production can be expanded many-fold within ten to twelve months," it said.
Russia’s Central Research Institute of Epidemiology said earlier that a smallpox vaccine is effective against monkeypox, which has no specific vaccine.
Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal (rodents, primate) or with material contaminated with the virus. It symptoms include fever, headache, muscle pains, swollen lymph nodes, feeling tired, and rash. The incubation period is around ten days and the symptoms typically last from two to four weeks. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the case fatality ratio ranges from one to ten percent, with the majority of deaths occurring in younger age groups.
Monkeypox cases have been confirmed in Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. No monkeypox cases have been registered in Russia.