The first set of vaccines to treat monkeypox is expected to arrive this month, says Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton.

“We have a priority group that will be targeted, similarly to what we [did] with the COVID-19 [vaccine distribution], and once they arrive, we will offer it to that group,” he told JIS News.

This comes as the island has recorded its fifth case of the disease, just before the beginning of the 2022/23 school year.

Speaking at the Open House and Exhibition ceremony for the rehabilitation of public health facilities in St Catherine, held at Church of the Open Bible in Twickenham Park on Wednesday, August 31, Dr Tufton called on parents to be vigilant.

“If there is any problem at all, go to your parish health office or report to your school nurse,” he added.

Dr Tufton advised that the same health and safety protocols that were in place to manage the spread of COVID-19 within schools will be maintained throughout the new school year.

These include abiding by social-distancing protocols, wearing masks, frequent handwashing and designated areas for sanitisation on school grounds, among others.

He said that the health and wellness ministry and the Ministry of Education and Youth work closely together.

“There are briefing sessions; we work with the school nurses [and] guidance counsellors; the schools are aware of what to look for and the recommendations to health centres, doctors [and] hospitals,” he noted.

Meanwhile, senior medical officer for the Spanish Town Hospital and Consultant Paediatrician Dr Jacqueline Wright James said there is no need for panic, as the “[monkeypox case] numbers aren’t significantly high in Jamaica”.

“And more so for children, they are less infected than the adults. We have seen some paediatric cases worldwide and, therefore, it is not impossible for a child to contract monkeypox,” she pointed out.

“We have come through the COVID-19 pandemic for the last two and a half years and those measures that we enforced to reduce the spread are really the same measures that we will enforce for monkeypox,” Dr Wright James added.