In an effort to contain a widespread mpox outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that more than 50,000 people have been vaccinated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that these vaccinations were made possible through donations from the United States and the European Commission, as Africa continues to grapple with the deadly outbreak.
The vaccination drive follows recent warnings from the African Union’s health watchdog that the mpox outbreak could become a "more severe" pandemic than COVID-19 without sufficient resources.
Since January, nearly 48,000 mpox cases have been reported across the continent, with over 1,100 deaths attributed to the virus, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The DRC remains the epicenter of the crisis, accounting for the majority of these cases and fatalities. Last month, the country launched a vaccination campaign, hoping to curb the spread of the virus and reduce mortality rates. However, health officials continue to face challenges in halting transmission as new cases emerge.
The WHO also announced that nearly 900,000 additional vaccine doses have been allocated to nine African countries under a framework called the Access and Allocation Mechanism.
“This is the first allocation of almost six million vaccine doses that we expect to be available by the end of 2024,” Ghebreyesus told reporters.
Mpox, formerly called monkeypox, is a viral infection transmitted to humans from infected animals and can also spread between people through close physical contact. This virus is related to smallpox and leads to symptoms such as fever, bodyaches, swollen lymph nodes, and a blistering rash.