KINSHASA, Congo. Congo has received 50,000 doses of the mpox vaccine from the United States, marking a significant step in its battle against the ongoing outbreak. The latest shipment, which arrived on Tuesday, follows the delivery of the first batch of vaccines from the European Union just a week earlier.
Cris Kacita Osako, the coordinator of Congo’s Monkeypox Response Committee, announced that vaccinations will begin on October 2. “Adults in the provinces of Equateur, South Kivu, and Sankuru, which have been the most severely affected, will be prioritized for vaccination,” Osako told The Associated Press.
This shipment from the U.S. is part of a larger effort to curb the spread of mpox in Congo, which has been at the center of a global health emergency. The U.S.-supplied vaccine are JYNNEOS, the same vaccine manufactured by Danish company Bavarian Nordic, which the EU donated through HERA, the European Union’s agency for health emergencies. In total, 100,000 doses were sent by the EU, with 50,000 additional doses arriving from the U.S. over the weekend.
While the arrival of these 250,000 doses is a positive development, it is only a fraction of what is needed to combat the outbreak. Authorities have estimated that at least 3 million doses are required to end the epidemic in Congo effectively. Although EU countries have pledged over 500,000 more doses, the timeline for their arrival remains uncertain.
Since the start of 2024, Congo has accounted for 91% of the confirmed mpox cases in Africa, with 5,549 cases and 643 deaths reported continent-wide. Most infections in Congo and neighboring Burundi are occurring in children under the age of 15.
The Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) recently launched a continent-wide response plan to address the growing crisis. This came three weeks after WHO declared the mpox outbreaks in 12 African nations a global emergency.
In response to the outbreak, Congo issued emergency approval for the JYNNEOS vaccine, which has already been used in the U.S. and Europe. For now, the vaccine will be administered to adults, with priority given to individuals in close contact with infected persons, as well as sex workers, according to Africa CDC Director-General Dr. Jean Kaseya.
HERA Director-General Laurent Muschel added that the European Medicines Agency is currently reviewing data that could extend the vaccine’s use to children aged 12 to 17 by the end of the month.
The next batch of mpox vaccines is expected to come from Japan, potentially arriving as early as this weekend. However, Osako did not specify how many doses would be included in the Japanese shipment.
This coordinated global effort underscores the urgency of containing the outbreak in Congo, the epicenter of this public health crisis. As vaccination campaigns begin, the hope is to reduce infection rates and prevent further loss of life.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
