2024-09-25 08:10:00
A batch of vaccines against mpox on the tarmac of Kinshasa airport, September 5, 2024. AFP
The United States will offer one million doses of pox vaccine to countries on the African continent where this epidemic is rife, American President Joe Biden announced Tuesday, September 24, at the UN in New York.
“We must act quickly to combat the mpox epidemic in Africa. We are ready to pledge $500 million to help African countries deal with this epidemic, and we are now donating one million doses of the anti-pox vaccine”he declared before the United Nations General Assembly. “We call on our partners to follow us” for more pledges of donations, he also said.
First vaccination campaign in Rwanda
Mpox, previously called monkeypox, is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans, but is also transmitted between humans during prolonged physical contact, causing fever, muscle pain and skin lesions. It can sometimes be fatal. The resurgence of mpox on the continent and the appearance of a new subclade, 1b, pushed the World Health Organization (WHO) to trigger its highest level of global alert in mid-August.
The first mpox vaccination campaign began last week in Rwanda, according to the African Union health agency. A total of 25,093 suspected cases of mpox and 723 deaths had been reported across the continent between January and September 8, according to the WHO. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), epicenter of the epidemic, announced that it would begin its vaccination campaign on October 2.
Read also | What we know about the mpox epidemic: transmission, dangerousness, population at risk
Add to your selections
The White House said Tuesday that Washington had already delivered 10,000 doses to Nigeria in August and 50,000 to the DRC in September. The next delivery, 300,000 doses, will be “immediately available” via Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the WHO, affirms the American executive, which then promises deliveries in installments until a million doses.
So far, some 200,000 doses of vaccine have been delivered to the DRC by the European Union and around 50,000, therefore, by the United States. The DRC has some 100 million inhabitants.
The WHO announced on September 13 that it had prequalified the MVA-BN vaccine, allowing specialized UN agencies, such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and Unicef, but also governments to accelerate orders. This vaccine manufactured by the Danish laboratory Bavarian Nordic can be administered to people over 18 years of age as an injection of two doses four weeks apart.
Reuse this content
1727389513
#United #States #offer #million #doses #pox #vaccine #Africa #announces #Joe #Biden
