BRUSSELS

The European Union has purchased another 170,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine to be distributed between member states, EU Commission for Health Stella Kyriakides said Wednesday.

“Through the HERA (European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority), we have secured further 170,000 doses of vaccines for monkeypox,” Kyriakides told reporters on the way to the informal meeting of EU health ministers in Prague.

With the new investment, the EU has bought in total over 330,000 doses.

The HERA will continue the purchase program “to make sure that we are providing member states with all the support they need,” she added.

According to Kyriakides, the EU experiences “declining trends” in monkeypox but the bloc must remain prepared for health emergencies.

According to the latest data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 18,463 cases have been reported in the EU, Norway, and Iceland until Sept. 1.

Monkeypox is a virus that causes a disease with similar but less severe symptoms to smallpox, including fever, rash, and swollen lymph nodes.