Health minister Fleur Agema was criticised by MPs on Wednesday after it emerged the Netherlands has far more Mpox vaccines than earlier thought.

Agema said earlier that she wanted to keep all 100,000 doses in the Dutch stockpile to protect people in the Netherlands if Mpox arrived in Europe. But on Wednesday she admitted that the Netherlands has another batch of the vaccines at hand.

“I have just been informed that the Netherlands has a batch of first-generation vaccines and that the location and number are secret,” Agema told MPs during an emergency debate on the issue. The vaccines had been bought by Els Borst, who was health minister from 1998 to 2001.

Agema said she had not included the old vaccines in the total because they are old, have major side effects, and the WHO had requested third-generation ones.

Vote

Later in the debate, a majority of MPs voted in favour of sending Mpox vaccines to Africa, as requested by the World Health Organisation. In particular, 13,200 vaccines which are nearing their sell-by date could be sent, MPs say.

But Agema, a minister on behalf of the far-right PVV, again insisted that she did not want to take any risks with ensuring sufficient provision for the Netherlands. In addition, she said, there was a risk that Russia might use biological weapons.

On Tuesday, aid minister Reinette Klever, who also represents the PVV, said she had allocated €3 million to the vaccination campaign.