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Delays to Mpox vaccine supplies raise concerns

Anger as WHO’s slow response shows lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic have not brought much change

The slow pace of delivering Mpox vaccines and limited funding for scientific research into the severity of strains suggests that Africa is little more prepared for Mpox than it was for Covid-19 (AC Vol 61 No 20, Paths out of the pandemic).

There is frustration and anger that the World Health Organization (WHO) did not start the process needed to give African countries easy access to large quantities of vaccines via international agencies until August. That has left African states and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) requesting donations of Mpox vaccines from Bavarian Nordic, KM Biologics and wealthy states, a repeat of the situation during Covid-19 that left African states – without the capacity to mass produce vaccines – at the back of the queue.

The WHO has now requested information on Mpox vaccines from the two manufacturers, allowing them to obtain emergency licenses to sell them to the United Nations, Global Alliance for Vaccinations and Immunisations (GAVI), and individual countries.

So far, pledged vaccine donations from Europe and the United States are in the hundreds of thousands. The first batches of vaccines are expected to be ready in Congo-Kinshasa and elsewhere this week despite having already been available to treat cases in Europe.

Africa CDC reckons that 10 million vaccines will be needed by the end of 2025 at an average price of US$100 per dose.

On 26 August, the WHO launched a six-month plan starting in September, to help stop outbreaks of Mpox transmission, including increasing workers in affected countries. It aims to improve fair access to vaccines, particularly in Congo-K and other African countries hardest hit by the outbreak. The WHO has called for $135m in funding, a distinctly meagre sum.

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