On Thursday, health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo got their first supply of Mpox vaccines in the hopes of containing an outbreak that has forced the United Nations to declare a worldwide public health emergency.
The outbreak’s epicenter is in Congo, and it has now expanded to neighboring nations and other places. However, efforts to limit the frequently fatal disease’s spread across Africa have been impeded by a shortage of vaccines.
At around 13:00 local time, a plane containing dosages supplied by the European Union and made by Bavarian Nordic landed in Kinshasa’s capital, according to Reuters reporters at the airport.
Samuel Roger Kamba Mulamba, the health minister of Congo, said to press that the just arriving vaccine has already shown promise in the US and will be made available to adults in the country.
“We are aware of the worst-hit areas, which include South Kivu and Equateur… As soon as possible, the infection is to be contained “he stated.
According to Laurent Muschel, the chairman of the EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), this initial cargo totals 99,000 doses, and a second delivery on Saturday will bring the total to 200,000 doses.
In total, Muschel told Reuters, Europe wants to ship 566,000 doses to the areas in the region with the highest needs. “Based on the number of cases, the next country (for deliveries) should be Burundi, but the country’s medical agency must authorise it.”
The introduction of the vaccine in Congo should begin to alleviate a significant injustice that has prevented African nations from obtaining the two vaccinations that were utilized in the worldwide Mpox outbreak of 2022, despite their widespread availability in Europe and the US.
Congo has stated that it will begin its vaccination campaign on October 8 in order to give time for a comprehensive awareness-raising campaign aimed at dispelling skepticism in some regions.
Usually resulting in pus-filled lesions and flu-like symptoms, mpox can be fatal. According to the health ministry, 19,710 suspected cases of mpox were reported in Congo in the first eight months of this year. There were 5,041 confirmed cases, including 655 fatalities.
It spreads through personal contact, including sexual contact.
