Brussels – The European Union will ship 215,000 doses of the only monkeypox vaccine approved by the FDA and the EMA to Africa. A timely decision after the confirmation that the mpox outbreak represents “a public health emergency for continental security.”
Pending the WHO opinion, which has convened an Emergency Committee for today (Aug. 14) to determine whether the spread of smallpox constitutes an emergency of international concern, the European Commission and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are trying to stem the epidemic that from the Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to neighboring countries.
The European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) will purchase and donate 175,420 MVA-BN doses, the non-replicating Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic smallpox vaccine, to the Africa CDC. In addition, pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic will donate 40,000 doses to the EU Authority, which Brussels will immediately turn over to Africa.
Africa CDC – which has called on the international community to support its efforts to mobilize 2 million vaccines – will be responsible for distributing the doses according to regional needs to affected countries. HERA is also working with the African Authority to expand access to mpox diagnostics and sequencing in the region, with funding of 3.5 million expected in early fall.
Africa CDC – which has called on the international community to support its efforts to mobilize 2 million vaccines – will be responsible for distributing the doses according to regional needs to affected countries. HERA is also working with the African Authority to expand access to mpox diagnostics and sequencing in the region, with funding of 3.5 million expected in early fall.
“Preparedness and response to health threats is a global endeavor which we are determined to pursue collectively and with solidarity across borders,” said EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Stella Kyriakides. Since the beginning of this year, in the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, there have been over 14 thousand cases of mpox and 511 victims. Even though the numbers are small, the epidemic already has a global dimension, as confirmed by the June 2024 WHO report: in addition to 567 new cases in Africa, WHO recorded 175 infections in the Americas, 100 in Europe, 81 in the Western Pacific, and 11 in Southeast Asia.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
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