WHO allocates 899,000 MPOX vaccine doses to affected nations

WANGARI NDIRANGU-KNA

Kenya is among nine African countries allocated MPOX vaccine doses following a surge of monkeypox on the continent. 

The Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) for MPOX has allocated an initial 899,000 vaccine doses to these nine countries across the African region. 

In a press statement from the World Health Organization (WHO), the decision— reached in collaboration with the affected countries and donors—aims to ensure that the limited doses are used effectively and fairly, with the overall objective of controlling the outbreaks. 

The AAM principals from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi), UNICEF, and WHO have approved the allocation, following the recommendations of an Independent Technical Review Committee from the Continental Incident Management Support Team for MPOX. 

The decision was based on each country’s readiness and epidemiological data. 

The other eight countries are the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.

The largest portion of the allocation, 85 per cent of the doses, will go to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the most affected country, which has reported four out of every five laboratory-confirmed cases in Africa this year. 

The outbreak of MPOX, particularly the surge of the viral strain clade Ib, in the Democratic Republic Congo and neighbouring countries was declared a public health emergency of international concern by WHO and a public health emergency of continental security by Africa CDC in mid-August. 

This year, 19 countries in Africa have reported MPOX, many of them newly affected by the viral disease.

The epicenter of the outbreak remains the Democratic Republic of Congo, with over 38,000 suspected cases and over 1000 deaths reported this year. 

Last month Kenya recorded 13 cases of MPOX, with one fatality and 13 confirmed cases in 10 areas, including Nakuru, Kajiado, Bungoma, Taita Taveta, Busia, Nairobi, Mombasa, Makueni, Kericho, and Kilifi.

At the Beginning of last month WHO had also confirmed 7,535 confirmed cases, including 32 deaths, from 16 countries reported in Africa.

Vaccination is recommended as a part of a comprehensive MPOX response strategy, focusing also on timely testing and diagnosis, effective clinical care, infection prevention, and the engagement of affected communities. 

Limited vaccination has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. According to WHO, the allocation to the nine countries marks a significant step towards a coordinated and targeted deployment of vaccines to stop the MPOX outbreaks. 

For most countries, the rollout of MPOX vaccines will be a new undertaking. Implementing targeted vaccination requires additional resources and Partners of the MPOX AAM, set up last month, are working to scale-up the response with further allocations of vaccines being expected before the end of the year.