Africa CDC to get 5.85m mpox doses by year-end

The Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) has said over 5.85 million doses are expected to be available to its Mpox Vaccines Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) by the end of 2024.

This includes nearly 900,000 doses initially allocated to Nigeria and eight other countries across the African region that are hit hard by the current mpox surge.

The centre added on Thursday that the supply includes 1.85 million dose donations from the European Union, United States, and Canada; 500, 000 doses from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, 500 000 doses procured through UNICEF, and 3 million doses from Japan.

Read also: Mpox cases in Africa surge 500%

The centre said the decision was to ensure that the limited doses were used effectively and fairly to control the outbreaks.

It said the allocations were approved following the recommendations of an independent technical review committee of the continental incident management support team for mpox, and was informed by country readiness and epidemiological data.

The nine countries are the Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda. The Democratic Republic of the Congo will receive the largest number of doses – 85 percent of the allocation—as it is the most affected country, reporting four out of every five laboratory-confirmed cases in Africa this year.

These doses come from Canada, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, as well as the European Union Health Emergency Response Authority, and the Unites States of America.

The outbreak of mpox, particularly the surge of the viral strain clade Ib, in the Democratic Republic of the 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 epicentre of the outbreak remains the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with over 38. 000 suspected cases and over 1000 deaths reported this year.

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.

Read also: Nigeria donates 1,000 doses of mpox vaccine to Rwanda

“Vaccines play an important role and are recommended to reduce transmission and help contain outbreaks. In recent weeks, limited vaccination has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. This allocation to the nine countries marks a significant step towards a coordinated and targeted deployment of vaccines to stop the mpox outbreaks,” the centre said.

“For most countries, the rollout of mpox vaccines will be a new undertaking. Implementing targeted vaccination requires additional resources. Partners of the mpox AAM, set up last month, are working to scale up the response. Further allocations of vaccines are expected before the end of the year.”