Monkeypox vaccines set to run out in UK with bookings in some areas already closing

The UK is set to run out of monkeypox vaccines, with bookings in some areas already closing as a result, Sky News understands.

Sources have suggested supply issues mean there are only around 5,000 doses of the jab left.

The latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), published on 8 August, show a total of 3,017 cases of the virus have been reported across the country, with 2,914 confirmed through testing.

Stocks of the smallpox jabs, which are used to combat monkeypox, have been limited around the world as the sudden global outbreak caused a huge upsurge in demand.

On top of that, the historically low number of monkeypox cases outside of countries where the virus has been endemic for many years, has restricted supplies of the vaccine.

It also takes time to manufacture the doses needed to meet the current global demand, and as a result, the UK is constrained by when the doses are available for delivery.

"UKHSA moved early to procure over 150,000 doses of the smallpox vaccine from the global manufacturer to meet expected demand in the UK," said the director of clinical programmes at the agency, Dr Mary Ramsay.

"Around 50,000 of these have been received to date and made available to the NHS for distribution across the country."

Despite stocks starting to run out, Dr Ramsay said the vaccine rollout is "continuing at pace" with individuals at higher risk of coming into contact with the virus still being offered the jab as protection.

"The thousands of vaccines administered by the NHS to date among those at highest risk of exposure should have a significant impact on the transmission of the virus," she added.

The UK is set to receive the remaining 100,000 doses in September.

While the UKHSA's latest data suggests the growth of the outbreak has slowed, new monkeypox cases are being reported every day, the agency's incident director, Dr William Welfare, said.

The majority of cases have been recorded in gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, but anyone can contract the disease.

Dr Welfare added that the infection is being passed on "mainly through contact in interconnected sexual networks".

Monkeypox: How do you catch it, what are the symptoms, and how easily does it spread?

According to the NHS, a person can catch monkeypox if they are bitten by an infected animal or if they touch its blood, body fluids, spots, blisters or scabs.

Transmission from an infected person is possible through close physical contact including sexual intercourse, touching clothing, bedding, towels or other items used by someone with the rash.

Contact with their blisters or scabs or exposure to their coughs or sneezes also poses a risk.

Initial symptoms of the virus include a high temperature, headache, muscle aches, backache, swollen glands and a single lesion or lesions on the genitals, anus and surrounding area.

Lesions in the mouth, and symptoms of proctitis (anal or rectal pain or bleeding), especially if the individual has had a new sexual partner recently are also considered signs of the disease.

Between one and five days of the first symptoms appearing, a rash usually develops on the face before spreading to other parts of the body.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already declared the outbreak of the virus a "global health emergency".

The risk has been categorised as "moderate" for the majority of the world, apart from Europe, where it is "high".

However, it is believed there have only been two known deaths as a result of the current monkeypox outbreak in the continent - both of which were recorded in Spain.