The Democratic Republic of the Congo urgently needs at least 3 million doses of the mpox vaccine to stop the outbreak of the virus in the country, Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said Thursday during a press briefing on the government's response to mpox.
"We need to receive 3 million doses of vaccine against the mpox virus to vaccinate 2.5 million people in the most affected areas," he said. "We believe this amount of vaccine is enough to stop the spread of the disease."
The minister said the Democratic Republic of the Congo was counting on international aid to buy the vaccine.
"These vaccines are very expensive," Minister Kamba said. "We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. It is important for the international community to wake up and join the effort to fight MPOX by providing us with the necessary resources to buy the vaccine."
Kamba said that since the beginning of 2024, 15,664 mpox cases and 548 deaths have been reported in the DRC. Infected mpox cases have been identified in all 26 provinces of the country.
Last summer, the DRC government approved the use of two newer mpox vaccines that have been developed in recent years. The vaccines have also been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).