Vaccines have arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). The doses are being transported to storage facilities and a vaccination campaign is set to begin at the end of the month, says Laurent Muschel, who leads the EU agency Hera.
Deliveries are also confirmed by the Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic. The vaccine doses are donated by the EU Commission in cooperation with the US government and the Danish company, which manufactures the only approved mpox vaccine.
Over 650 deaths
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the center of the ongoing mpox outbreak, with 19,000 confirmed cases and over 650 deaths.
So far this year, nearly 23,000 cases have been registered in several countries.
The vaccination campaign shows international cooperation, according to Muschel:
It demonstrates the solidarity between the EU and Africa, and also our capacity to act quickly.
So far, the EU and several of its member states have pledged a total of 560,000 doses to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other affected countries. 13 African countries are currently reporting outbreaks, including Congo-Brazzaville, the Central African Republic, and Burundi.
In total, the international community has pledged 3.6 million doses of mpox vaccine.
Poor infrastructure
However, problems remain due to the poor infrastructure in large parts of the country, with inadequate transportation systems and unstable energy supply. The vaccine requires a storage temperature of at least minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Mpox is transmitted from infected animals to humans, but can also be transmitted between humans through physical contact. Mpox causes severe rashes all over the body.
The hope is that the outbreak can be over within six months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) last week.
