An assessment of the efficacy of booster vaccinations has not been made as there is currently no requirement for mpox booster vaccinations.

There is currently insufficient evidence to support routine boosters of mpox vaccination in immunocompetent individuals, namely people with the ability to produce a normal immune response; further information is contained in Smallpox and mpox: the green book, chapter 29, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smallpox-and-vaccinia-the-green-book-chapter-29

The following table shows the number of Mpox vaccines delivered each month from 1 January 2024 to 31 January 2025, as well as the total Mpox vaccines delivered in that period:

The data was extracted on 5 February 2025 and is based on aggregate data submissions from sexual health or genitourinary medicine clinics.

The total number of Mpox vaccinations administered in England in the 2023/24 financial year totalled to 21,225. The total number of Mpox vaccinations administered in the 2024/25 financial year to date currently stands at 15,649.

The data was extracted on 5 February 2025 based on aggregate data submissions from sexual health or genitourinary medicine clinics. The data covers a period of 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, and 1 April 2024 to 31 January 2025.

NHS England is planning for a routine Mpox vaccination programme, whilst continuing to offer vaccination to eligible cohorts in areas with the highest density of the eligible population as part of the response to the recent Mpox outbreaks.

NHS England has recently opened additional Mpox vaccination sites across the country to support the access for eligible individuals, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/2025/02/nhs-opens-new-mpox-vaccination-sites-across-england/

The programme will be delivered through Sexual Health Services who have experience in the assessment, identification, and vaccination of those who are at increased risk of Mpox infection.

There are two distinct types of the mpox virus: clade I and clade II. The previous significant outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2022 was from clade II. Clade I is currently classified as a high consequence infectious disease. The risk to the UK population remains low. We expect to see the occasional imported case of Clade Ib mpox in the UK.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) continues to closely monitor mpox epidemiology and has well established surveillance systems to monitor the spread of mpox. This is supported by a robust contact tracing process that helps us to effectively contain any imported cases found in the UK.

The latest information about UK cases of mpox is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/ukhsa-detects-first-case-of-clade-ib-mpox

A full summary of the measures UKHSA is taking is summarised in the technical briefing, which is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66e83b367f20ecc7ec3aa1db/mpox-technical-briefing-9.pdf

This briefing will be reviewed and updated as more is understood about the disease.

UKHSA is engaged with international partners, including the World Health Organisation, European, US and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, ensuring we receive updates about international cases in a timely fashion.

There are two distinct types, known as clades, of the Mpox virus, specifically clade I and clade II. The previous significant outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2022 was from clade II. Details of the current National Health Service Mpox vaccination programme are available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/mpox/#:~:text=people%20who%27ve%20been%20in,up%20to%2014%20days%20after

Clade I is currently classified as a high consequence infectious disease. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has led extensive planning across the Government and the NHS to deal with Mpox cases in the UK, and will coordinate contact tracing and offer testing and vaccination to contacts as needed.

Four cases of clade I Mpox have been detected in the UK, three of which are household contacts of the first case. All four patients are currently under specialist medical care.

In line with the advice of the Advisory Committee for Dangerous Pathogens, the border response for direct flights from affected countries includes pre-arrival health declarations. Digital messaging is displayed on information screens at 10 international airports in England and the Eurostar terminal, and the UKHSA is meeting flights from affected countries and giving health advice leaflets to passengers and crew.

We are placing a strong emphasis on ensuring that there are high levels of awareness among clinicians about the risks and the actions they need to take. The UKHSA Returning Workers Scheme for organisations sending workers to outbreak areas also provides pre-travel advice, active monitoring on return, and medical support for symptomatic returnees when necessary. Pre-travel advice for Mpox is publicly available on TravelHealthPro website, which is available at the following link:

https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/

The risk to the general population of the UK of being exposed to Mpox clade I is currently considered low.

Of the three vaccines, Imvanex is the only one licensed in the United Kingdom by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and in the European Union by the European Medicines Agency, for active immunisation against smallpox, Mpox, and other diseases caused by the vaccinia virus in adults.

Imvanex is the only currently available vaccine with real world evidence of protection against Mpox. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has agreed that the evidence it has reviewed is consistent with protection from Imvanex being maintained for approximately 10 years.

In addition to the ongoing efforts to control Mpox clade IIb in the United Kingdom, there is widespread planning underway across the Government, including work by the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and the National Health Service, to prepare for any potential cases of the high consequence infectious disease clades Ia or Ib of Mpox in the UK, and to help prevent onward transmission should any cases be imported.

An established clinical countermeasures programme is a core component of our pandemic preparedness and response capability. These clinical countermeasures include personal protective equipment and hygiene consumables, vaccines, and therapeutics, such as antivirals. The programme, including the balance of antivirals stockpiled, is informed by scientific and clinical assessment of the evidence base and is kept under review, building on lessons learned from previous outbreaks and emerging evidence on efficacy from ongoing clinical trials in epidemic hotspots.

The Department has noted the recent PALM007 study. The NHS in England has a duty to make available to patients in England any treatment or product recommended as clinically and cost effective by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.

The latest risk assessment is set out in the UK Health Security Agency’s (UKHSA) technical briefing, which was published on 16 September 2024, and is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66e83b367f20ecc7ec3aa1db/mpox-technical-briefing-9.pdf

The risk to the general population of the United Kingdom of being exposed to Mpox clade I is currently considered low. The UKHSA is operating well established monitoring and surveillance processes, ensuring rapid testing and vaccines are available, equipping healthcare professionals with latest guidance and advice on how to respond to potential cases, developing robust protocols to reduce risk of transmission, and working closely with international partners to ensure our plans and risk assessments are informed by the latest global picture.

There is widespread planning underway across the Government, including work by the Department, the UKHSA, and the National Health Service to manage any potential cases in the UK and help minimise transmission.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is engaged with our international partners, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), European, US and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and national public health agencies, ensuring we receive updates about international cases in a timely fashion. This information is then fed into the ongoing risk assessments that UKHSA are carrying out as the current mpox outbreak evolves.

In addition, I met with WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in July to discuss how we can work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) on a range of issues, including mpox.

The UK is the largest flexible donor to the WHO globally, helping them to allocate resources where they are needed most, including responding to health emergencies such as mpox.

We are deeply concerned by the mpox outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other African countries. In August I visited the DRC and announced £3.1 million to UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) for the mpox and cholera response. This will reach 4.4 million people. We have contributed £3 million to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Regional Office for Africa for health emergency response. The UK's £340 million core voluntary contribution to the WHO supports it to allocate resources where they are needed most, including responding to health emergencies such as mpox. We are one of the largest donors to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which has unlocked $2.9 million to support the rollout of vaccines in the DRC.

As of 13 September 2024, no cases of clade I or clade Ib Mpox have been detected in the United Kingdom. The risk to the UK population of being exposed to Mpox clade I is currently considered low. However, planning is underway to prepare for any cases that we might see in the UK. This includes ensuring that clinicians are aware and able to recognise cases promptly, that rapid testing is available, and that protocols are developed for the safe clinical care of people who have the infection, and to prevent onward transmission.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), the National Health Service, and partners have well tested response capabilities to detect, contain, and treat novel infectious diseases, including Mpox.

The United Kingdom has sufficient testing capabilities in place to test for the different types of Mpox, as the UKHSA and some NHS laboratories can do the primary test for Mpox, and the UKHSA has requested that all NHS confirmed Mpox samples are sent to the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory at the UKHSA, who can provide specialist polymerase chain reaction and genomic sequencing to determine the clade type.

The UKHSA is working closely with NHS England and has developed algorithms, which have been shared across the NHS, to support referrals of suspect cases for assessment. As part of the UKHSA’s well established preparedness plans, we have a supply of vaccines to vaccinate contacts of cases, and to vaccinate those in transmission networks connected to cases, as appropriate.

The Government is committed to helping the international response. The UK is the second largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, providing £1.65 billion over the 2020 to 2025 period. We are also working closely with them on ensuring sustainable and effective access to Mpox vaccines for low and middle income countries.

Critical to the management of any infections in the UK will be the rapid identification of any possible cases, with appropriate isolation and swift follow-up to trace and support identified contacts. We are placing a strong emphasis on ensuring there are high levels of awareness among clinicians about the risk and the actions they need to take when presented with possible cases. An update on case definitions and a briefing note has been issued.

On 10 November 2023 the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued advice on creating targeted, routine vaccination programmes for the prevention of Mpox and gonorrhoea.

Officials across the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England are developing policy options based on the JCVI’s advice. A decision on the vaccination programme for the prevention of gonorrhoea will be taken following the outcome of this process. The policy position on the Mpox vaccination programme is being updated to reflect the emerging international concerns, and a decision on this is expected shortly.

On 10 November 2023 the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued advice on creating targeted, routine vaccination programmes for the prevention of Mpox and gonorrhoea.

Officials across the Department, the UK Health Security Agency, and NHS England are developing policy options based on the JCVI’s advice. A decision on the vaccination programme for the prevention of gonorrhoea will be taken following the outcome of this process. The policy position on the Mpox vaccination programme is being updated to reflect the emerging international concerns, and a decision on this is expected shortly.

The UK is second largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, providing £1.65 billion over 2021-2025. We are working closely with Gavi to enable access to mpox vaccines for the Democratic Republic of Congo and other African countries at risk. The UK have committed £160 million to international partner, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI and Bavarian Nordic recently announced a clinical trial launching in late 2024 to assess vaccine effectiveness in children in Africa. Lord Collins has announced the additional £3.1 million funding to UNICEF for cholera and mpox response. This will reach 4.4 million people in affected communities.

During his visit to DRC in August, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Africa), Lord Collins, announced £3.1 million UK funding to UNICEF for cholera and mpox response in DRC. It will reach 4.4 million people in affected communities and will boost the DRC's national response for mpox by bolstering surveillance, and ensuring thousands of patients can access healthcare as well as nutritious food to fight infection. The UK is also providing £340 million core voluntary contribution to WHO over 2020-2024, as well as £3 million to WHO's regional office to Africa for health emergency response.

The UK is second largest donor to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, providing £1.65 billion over 2021-2025. We are working closely with Gavi to enable access to mpox vaccines for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other African countries at risk. The UK have committed £160 million to international partner, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). CEPI and Bavarian Nordic recently announced a clinical trial launching in late 2024 to assess vaccine effectiveness in children in Africa. Lord Collins has announced the additional £3.1 million funding to UNICEF for cholera and mpox response. This will reach 4.4 million people in affected communities.

Lord Collins recently visited DRC and announced £3.1 million to UNICEF to support the local response. This will reach 4.4 million people in affected communities. The UK's £340 million core voluntary contribution to the WHO supports it to allocate resources where they are needed most, including responding to health emergencies such as mpox. We have also contributed £3 million to WHO's Regional Office for Africa for health emergency response. Alongside our financial support, the FCDO continues to monitor the situation closely, staying in regular contact with the WHO and Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Secretary of State and I have met regularly with officials from the Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and the National Health Service on this issue.

UKHSA will continue to keep the global situation and our domestic preparations under close review, and ministers across the Government are working together to coordinate our response. Planning is underway, including work by the Department, the UKHSA, and the NHS, to prepare for any cases that we might see in the United Kingdom.

The UKHSA is engaged with our international partners, including the World Health Organisation, European, American, and African centres for disease control and prevention and national public health agencies, ensuring we receive updates about international cases in a timely fashion.

The risk to the UK population of being exposed to Mpox clade I is currently considered low. However, planning is underway to prepare for any cases that we might see in the UK. This includes ensuring that clinicians are aware and able to recognise cases promptly, that rapid testing is available, and that protocols are developed for the safe clinical care of people who have the infection and to prevent onward transmission.