The Access and Allocation Mechanism for Mpox has allocated an initial batch of 899,000 vaccine doses to nine African nations, including Nigeria, as they tackle the recent Mpox surge across the continent.
This initiative was highlighted in a joint statement by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday, underscoring a concerted effort to control the outbreaks in affected regions.
The joint statement explained that, in partnership with impacted nations and donors, the AAM aims to ensure that the limited vaccine supply is administered effectively and equitably.
The primary goal is to control the outbreak while making optimal use of the available doses.
The AAM principals—including Africa CDC, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Gavi (the Vaccine Alliance), UNICEF, and the World Health Organization—approved this allocation after recommendations from an independent Technical Review Committee within Africa CDC’s Continental Incident Management Support Team for Mpox.
According to the statement, this decision took into account country readiness as well as the most recent epidemiological data on the disease’s spread.
The vaccines are being allocated to nine countries with the highest incidence of Mpox cases in Africa: the Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.
The DRC, as the continent’s hardest-hit nation—accounting for 80% of Africa’s confirmed Mpox cases this year—will receive the majority of the doses, totaling 85% of the allocation.
The vaccines are supplied by a coalition of international contributors, including Canada, Gavi, the European Union (with doses from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain), the European Union Health Emergency Response Authority, and the United States.
The Mpox outbreak, especially the spread of clade Ib in the DRC and neighboring regions, was declared an international public health emergency by WHO and a continental security emergency by Africa CDC in mid-August.
This year, 19 African countries reported Mpox cases, with many seeing the virus for the first time. The epicenter remains the DRC, where over 38,000 suspected cases and more than 1,000 deaths have been reported in 2024 alone.
The statement emphasized that vaccination is an essential component of a comprehensive Mpox response strategy.
In addition to vaccination, the response includes timely testing and diagnosis, effective clinical care, infection control, and active engagement with affected communities. Vaccines are particularly crucial for reducing transmission and containing the outbreaks.
The statement further elaborated, “In recent weeks, limited vaccination has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. This allocation to the nine countries marks a significant step towards a coordinated and targeted deployment of vaccines to stop the Mpox outbreaks.
“For most countries, the rollout of Mpox vaccines will be a new undertaking. Implementing targeted vaccination requires additional resources. Partners of the Mpox AAM, set up last month, are working to scale up the response. Further allocations of vaccines are expected before the end of the year,” it stated.
On vaccine supply, it stated that over 5.85 million doses are expected to be available to the Mpox Vaccines AAM by late 2024, including the nearly 900,000 doses from this initial allocation.
The stock includes contributions from various nations and organizations, such as 1.85 million doses of MVA-BN from the EU, US, and Canada, an additional 500,000 doses of MVA-BN from Gavi’s First Response Fund, 500,000 doses procured through UNICEF, and another 3 million doses of LC16 from Japan.
In August, Nigeria was among the African nations to benefit from global support, receiving 10,000 doses of the Jynneos Mpox vaccine from the United States.
