The Democratic Republic of Congo has received its first batch of 100,000 mpox vaccine doses, arriving in Kinshasa on Thursday. This shipment comes three weeks after the World Health Organization and Africa CDC declared a global emergency over the mpox outbreak affecting twelve African nations.
Western partners, including the European Union and the United States, have pledged around 380,000 doses of the vaccine. However, this amount is significantly less than the 3 million doses that Congo’s authorities estimate are needed to control the outbreaks, which are centred in the country.
Laurent Muschel, Director-General of HERA, the EU’s health emergency agency, announced at the airport, “Today, we are delivering 100,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine, which will arrive at Kinshasa airport at 12:10. Another flight carrying an additional 100,000 doses is scheduled for Saturday at the same time. This means a total of 200,000 doses are coming to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to address the mpox crisis. Just two weeks after the Africa CDC and WHO declared a continental and international health emergency, we are taking action to provide the necessary vaccines to protect the at-risk population.”
The 100,000 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine, produced by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, were donated by the European Union through HERA. The vaccine has already been administered in Europe and the United States and is approved for use in adults by the EU. The European Medicines Agency is currently reviewing data to potentially approve the vaccine for children aged 12 to 17 by the end of the month.
Last week, HERA reported over 22,800 mpox cases and 622 deaths across Africa, with a 200% increase in infections in the past week. Congo, where the new mpox variant was first identified, has reported the majority of cases and fatalities, particularly among children under 15.
Following the global outbreak in 2022, wealthy nations quickly provided vaccines and treatments from their reserves. However, Africa has received only a limited number of doses despite urgent requests. Last week, the U.S. donated 10,000 doses to Nigeria, marking the first significant donation to Africa since the outbreak began. Nigeria has reported 40 mpox cases this year.
Mpox, previously spreading largely unnoticed in Africa, has now been identified as a significant health threat. The current outbreak, which affected over 70 countries, has seen transmission through both sexual contact and close interactions among vulnerable groups, including children and pregnant women, according to Dr. Dimie Ogoina, chair of WHO’s mpox emergency committee.
Most individuals over 50 were likely vaccinated against smallpox, which may offer some protection against mpox; however, Africa’s predominantly young population is largely unvaccinated and therefore more susceptible, according to Ogoina.
The Africa CDC is developing a coordinated response plan for the outbreaks, which will be presented to African leaders for consideration at a meeting in September.
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