An initial 899,000 vaccine doses have been allocated to Nigeria and 8 other countries across Africa that have been hit hard by the current mpox surge, the WHO and other health organizations said on Wednesday.
The newly allocated vaccines will go to the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
“The largest number of doses – 85% of the allocated vaccines – will go to the Democratic Republic of Congo as the most affected country,” global health agency said.
The allocated vaccines are provided by Canada, Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), the United States, and the European Union, including countries like France, Germany, Spain, and others, along with the EU’s Health Emergency Response Authority.
The global health agency said this allocation to the 9 countries marks a significant step towards a coordinated and targeted deployment of vaccines to stop the mpox outbreaks.
“For most countries, the rollout of mpox vaccines will be a new undertaking. Implementing targeted vaccination requires additional resources,” the statement reads.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the mpox outbreak, driven largely by a surge of the clade Ib viral strain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a global public health emergency for the second time in two years in August.
According to the latest WHO figures, opens new tab, there have been more than 46,000 confirmed and suspected cases of mpox in Africa this year, and more than 1,000 deaths in the continent due to viral illness.
“This year, 19 countries in Africa have reported mpox, many of them newly affected by the viral disease,” it reports.
Emphasizing on expand protection, the global health agency noted that to protect more people at risk in affected communities, additional doses of vaccine are available.
“It targets individuals at high risk of severe disease based on local epidemiology in affected areas, focusing on regions with the highest incidence of mpox.
“Special attention will be given to vulnerable populations, including those living with HIV, internally displaced persons, and refugees, due to their increased risk of severe outcomes,” WHO said.
Over 5.85 million vaccine doses are expected to be available to the Mpox Vaccines Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) by the end of 2024, including the nearly 900 000 allocated doses.
The supply includes contributions from multiple nations and organizations, including 1.85 million dose donations of MVA-BN from the European Union, United States, and Canada, 500 000 doses of MVA-BN from Gavi utilizing the First Response Fund, 500 000 doses procured through UNICEF, as well as a further 3 million doses of the LC16 vaccine from Japan.