Gay and bisexual men in Canada have been urged by the Public Health Agency of Canada to practice safe sex and limit their number of sexual partners because of the monkeypox outbreak.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, told a briefing Wednesday that despite serious concerns about the global monkeypox outbreak, public health officials and governments are optimistic about the ability to contain the spread.
So far, the disease has been almost exclusively limited to men, Tam said, with 99 percent of infected individuals in Canada being men who have sex with men.
Tam added that the monkeypox epidemic in Canada can be stopped by using strategies including a public awareness campaign focused on gay and bisexual men through community organizations, educational settings and dating apps like Grindr.
Tam said learning more about the disease, including how to recognize its symptoms, is critical in the fight against its spread.
It said there are now 745 cases in Canada
PHAC officials said that of the 70,000 doses of the Imvamune vaccine sent to the provinces, about 27,000 have been administered.
Tam said Canada has enough stocks of the vaccine for now and urged vulnerable groups, such as men who have sex with men, to get vaccinated to limit the spread.
Michael Quagg, policy director at the Community Research Centre, a Canadian non-profit organization focused on the health of the LGBTQ community, is reported to say that men who have sex with men are already lining up to get the vaccine.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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