The European Medicines Agency’s Emergency Task Force (ETF), based on a clinical trial involving 500 volunteers, advised on 19 August that Bavarian Nordic’s Imvanex monkeypox vaccine (see EUROPE 12998/24) should be administered intradermally.
Volunteers in the study produced the same level of antibodies after intradermal injection with 1/5 of the vaccine dose as volunteers vaccinated subcutaneously with a full dose of the same vaccine. Intradermal administration is therefore an advantage in a context of tight vaccine supply. The ETF reports that national authorities may use intradermal injections in this context.
However, the ETF warns of a higher risk of local reaction when used intradermally. The ETF recommends optimising vaccine doses through the use of low dead volume syringes and only using staff trained in intradermal injections.
The Imvanex vaccine is subject to joint procurement at European level (see EUROPE 12995/35).
Link to ETF considerations on Imvanex dosage: https://aeur.eu/f/2se (Original version in French by Emilie Vanderhulst)