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AAP
AAP
Health
Tess Ikonomou

Monkeypox infections stabilising: minister

Health Minister Mark Butler says the number of monkeypox infections in Australia is stabilising. (Mick Tsikas/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Health Minister Mark Butler says the number of monkeypox infections in Australia is stabilising.

The comments follow Victorian authorities declaring the state's monkeypox outbreak as having "turned around", with no new cases reported in the past couple of weeks.

Mr Butler said based on the latest data the nation had recorded about 135 infections in total since monkeypox first arrived in the country.

"It does appear that new infection numbers are stabilising significantly in the area of monkeypox," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

Last month, Mr Butler announced the government had signed an agreement with Bavarian Nordic to secure 450,000 doses of the latest monkeypox vaccine.

When asked if 100,000 doses of the vaccine were still on track to arrive this year, Mr Butler said Australia had been one of the first countries to negotiate access to the third-generation vaccine, with 22,000 doses already delivered.

"That's been now administered in a very productive way, in particular in the two major states but elsewhere as well," he said.

He said an additional 78,000 doses were due to arrive "very shortly".

Mr Butler could not say when people would be eligible for their second dose.

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