A batch of 500,000 mpox vaccines has been bought by the vaccine alliance Gavi, for delivery this year to virus-affected countries in Africa, where until now doses have been scarce.
It is estimated that 10 million vaccines are needed to meet demand, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accounts for most cases, only received 100,000 vaccines earlier this month despite having had more than 700 deaths this year and 22,000 cases of the new Clade 1b strain. Neighbouring countries Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya have each reported a handful of cases.
“We are committed to working with affected governments and our partners to turn these vaccines into vaccinations as quickly and effectively as possible and, over time, to build a global vaccine stockpile if sufficient funding is secured for Gavi’s work through 2030,” said Gavi’s head, Dr Sania Nishtar.
Gavi said it had, for the first time, used the First Response Fund, established in June to quickly buy vaccines in health emergencies, which Nishtar said “takes us a long way towards our goal of protecting those most at risk”.
Gavi said it decided to access the First Response Fund to buy the vaccines, on which it will spend up to $50m (£38m), shortly after the World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency in mid-August.
Campaigners for fairer access to medical treatment have called for quicker delivery of vaccines and a reduction in the prices set by manufacturers.
Reuters reported this month that rich countries such as Japan, the US and Canada have millions of doses of mpox vaccines stockpiled and only a small proportion of them have been pledged to help stop the outbreak in Africa.
The UK has ordered 150,000 vaccines for its own preparations against the new strain.
Manufacturer Bavarian Nordic praised the deal, saying it would significantly increase the number of vaccines available in Africa. Gavi said it will now work to secure funding to build a stockpile of vaccines.
The Bill Gates Foundation, which contributes funding towards the independent journalism produced on the global development site, also is among the contributers to the Gavi vaccine alliance.
