A shipment of 15,460 doses of Mpox vaccine, donated to Gavi-eligible countries by the vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic, arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Wednesday to support the global and regional effort to contain the outbreak.
The doses landed in Kinshasa, the country’s capital and is an addition to the 215,000 vaccine doses received from the European Union last week.
A statement by Dr Sania Nishtar, the Chief Executive at Gavi, said Gavi in August declared an emergency for the Mpox outbreak on the African continent, to trigger flexibilities for funding that has already been allocated to countries.
Under this Fragility, Emergencies and Displaced Populations (FED) Policy, US$ 2.9 million from existing support has been made available to support DRC’s vaccination effort to help countries affected by Mpox prepare for vaccination.
She said, ‘ ‘The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the epicentre of the global Mpox outbreak, with approximately 94% of all reported cases and 99% of related deaths.
According to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the outbreak had resulted in 5,265 confirmed cases, 18,737 suspected cases and 617 deaths from 1 January –31 August 2024. In DRC alone, there have been 4,799 confirmed cases, 17,801 suspected cases and 610 deaths.
“This latest shipment of vaccines is a timely addition to the global mpox response. Now that they have arrived, our priority is to work with our partners to ensure these and other vaccines reach those who need them, as quickly and efficiently as possible. Gavi has already unlocked funds to support this delivery.”
DRC has already secured relevant national regulatory approval of the JYNNEOS mpox vaccine by Bavarian Nordic and expects to roll out the vaccines in the coming weeks.
As Africa CDC and the World Health Organization are working to finalise a mechanism to govern how best to allocate scarce vaccine supplies, several other affected African countries are in the process of securing regulatory approval that will enable them to receive doses.
Gavi said it is also working closely with its partners, such as UNICEF, to support the effort of delivering the vaccines and setting up a stockpile for Mpox vaccines, contingent upon donor funding, in which its unique public-private model can help bring the outbreak under control and help build resilient health systems.