WELLINGTON - The New Zealand government has responded quickly to two newly confirmed cases of mpox and approved the use of the vaccine. The mpox vaccine Jynneos has been given provisional approval by Medsafe, New Zealand’s medical safety authority. Jynneos has been used in New Zealand since 2023 to prevent mpox for those at greatest risk, under a specific provision in the Medicines Act, Health Minister Shane Reti said on Wednesday. New Zealand has confirmed two new cases of mpox, likely to be linked to the Queenstown Winter Pride event in August. These are cases of clade II mpox, the more common variant, rather than the more severe clade I, researchers said. “Investigations are continuing which may result in other cases, but the overall risk of mpox to New Zealand remains low,” Reti said, adding mpox is obviously a global public health concern at present, and it’s important New Zealand has monitoring and resourcing in place. Health New Zealand has asked attendees of the August event to watch for symptoms, as they may have been in contact with people who have since tested positive for mpox overseas. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international public health emergency last month, triggered in part by the emergence of a new strain, called clade Ib, which is spreading mainly in central and east African countries and isolated cases have also been reported in Sweden and Thailand. More than 100,000 mpox cases have been reported globally so far, according to the WHO. New Zealand has had 54 diagnosed mpox cases since 2022, with at least five cases already this year, statistics show. Mpox is largely transmitted by close physical contact and is not considered an airborne infection like COVID-19, Baker said.