EU backs changing monkeypox vaccine injection method to boost supply

FILE PHOTO: Test tubes labelled "Monkeypox virus positive" are seen in this illustration taken May 22, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

LONDON (Reuters) - European countries could stretch out limited supplies of the monkeypox vaccine by administering smaller doses of the shot, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Friday.

The agency's advice is in line with the so-called fractional dosing approach endorsed by U.S. regulators in which one vial of the vaccine can be used to administer up to five separate doses - instead of a single dose - by injecting a smaller amount in between layers of the skin (intradermal injection).