The first batch of mpox vaccine arrived in Congo’s capital on Thursday, the country’s authorities said, three weeks after the World Health Organization declared mpox outbreaks in 12 African countries a global emergency.
The 100,000 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine, manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, have been donated by the European Union through HERA, the bloc’s agency for health emergencies. Another 100,000 are expected to be delivered on Saturday, the Congolese authorities said.
UNICEF is going to be in charge of the vaccination campaign in the most impacted provinces, Congo’s Health Minister Roger Kamba told reporters after the delivery of the vaccine. But it remained unclear when the vaccination drive would begin.
About 380,000 doses of mpox vaccines have been promised by Western partners such as the European Union and the United States, Dr. Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters last week.
That is less than 15% of the 3 million doses authorities have said are needed to end the mpox outbreaks in Congo, the epicenter of the global health emergency.
Last week, the organization said there were more than 22,800 mpox cases and 622 deaths on the continent and that infections had jumped 200% in the last week.
The majority of cases and deaths are in Congo, where the new mpox variant was first detected, and where most mpox infections are in children under 15.
Following the global mpox outbreak in 2022, wealthy countries quickly responded with vaccines and treatments from their stockpiles.
However, only a few doses have reached Africa despite pleas from its governments, creating a huge inequity.
MVA-BN vaccine has already been used in Europe and the United States, the E.U. said, and it is authorized for use in adults. The European Medicines Agency is examining additional data to be able to administer it to children aged 12 to 17, which could happen at the end of the month.
The U.S. last week donated 10,000 doses of mpox vaccines to Nigeria, where the disease has been common. It is the first known donation to Africa since the current outbreaks.
Nigeria has recorded 40 cases of the virus this year, according to Nigeria’s CDC.
