Due to a shortage of the monkeypox vaccination in the United States, a large number of foreigners, including Americans, are travelling to Montreal to receive their shots.
The vaccination will now be made available to everyone who considers themselves to be at danger, according to the Quebec provincial capital, which is located about 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of the US border.
During a trip to Montreal last week, Robb Stilson, an art director from Denver, Colorado, took advantage of the chance.
As he stood in line to receive a shot at a mobile vaccination clinic with his husband and two daughters, Stilson said, “Getting vaccinated is incredibly difficult in the States. Friends of mine have waited eight or nine hours to enter.
Authorities in Montreal made the decision to provide the vaccine to everyone who is at risk in order to stop the virus’s spread because contact tracking is challenging.
According to Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at the McGill University Health Center, “as tourists, they may participate in activities that may expose them and so in a way, we’re combating the pandemic by letting them become immunised here so that they don’t transmit the infection both here and when they go back home.”
Since the vaccination drive began in mid-May, when the first cases of monkeypox were discovered, Montreal has immunised 18,500 individuals, with 13% of them being foreigners.
The objective is to provide 25,000 doses and immunise around 75-80% of the population considered to be at risk, especially men who have sex with men or with many partners.
Vinh continued, “I think the approach taken by the Montreal public health agency will serve as a model for other public health agencies to follow when developing immunisation strategies.
Health officials in British Columbia’s western province opted last week not to provide the vaccination to visitors, citing low supplies and the fact that it was becoming more widely available in the US.
In order to inoculate five times as many individuals with the same amount of the medication due to a dearth of available doses, American health regulators on Tuesday approved a novel injection process.
Monkeypox illnesses have been verified in 1,059 Canadians as of August 11, although officials are beginning to notice a slowdown in infections.