The first vaccines against MPOX, donated by the European Union and manufactured by a Danish laboratory, arrived on Thursday, September 5 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the epicenter of the epidemic, which is due to receive a total of 200,000 doses this week.
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The first batch of 99,100 vaccines arrived by plane in the Congolese capital Kinshasa at midday, an AFP journalist at the airport noted. The rest of the delivery of 200,000 doses in total is to be sent on another flight on Saturday, September 7.
“The vaccines have arrived in the DRC. They are now on their way to storage areas and the vaccination campaign should begin at the end of the month according to the Congolese government.“, confirmed Laurent Muschel, director of the European Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) set up during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba was present.
According to Mr Muschel, also at the airport on Thursday 5 September, more than 560,000 doses in total will be donated by the EU and its member states but “we hope there will be more“, he specified. These donations will be intended for the DRC as well as other countries on the continent infected by the virus.
All of the vaccines arriving in the DRC this week come from the Danish pharmaceutical laboratory Bavarian Nordic, according to the Africa CDC and the EU. This vaccine, the only one approved at this stage in Europe and the United States, is only intended for adults. Trials are currently being conducted for potential use on children over the age of twelve.
Another vaccine against MPOX is authorized in Japan, which has also promised a significant number of doses to the DRC.
Some 3.6 million vaccines in total for African countries have been secured, according to the Africa CDC, with the DRC – by far the world’s worst-affected country – a priority recipient for international health authorities.
Logistical challenge
The vast central African country has recorded more than 19,000 cases of the disease formerly known as monkeypox since January, and more than 650 deaths, according to figures released Tuesday by the health ministry. More than 5,000 cases have been detected in the east, which has been plagued by recurring armed violence.
Some 62% of cases of contamination affect children, according to the Africa CDC. Four out of five deaths have also been recorded among children.
With a territory four times the size of France, the country will face a logistical challenge during the vaccination campaign. In particular, the Danish vaccine must be stored in special cold conditions, “at minus 20°C, the temperature of a freezer“, Mr. Muschel said.
In Africa, the virus is now present in thirteen countries, including Burundi (796 cases), Congo-Brazzaville (162 cases) and the Central African Republic (45 cases), according to Africa CDC figures from August 27.
The resurgence of the disease on the continent and the appearance of a new variant (clade 1b) prompted the WHO last month to trigger its highest level of global alert.
Several MPOX epidemics are currently underway in central Africa. The 2022 epidemic was caused by “clade 2”, still circulating quietly in many countries including France.
The epidemics in the DRC are caused by “clade 1”, the situation in the country becoming more complicated with the appearance of a new version of this subgroup, variant 1b, the dangerousness and contagiousness of which are currently difficult to assess, according to several specialists.
According to the WHO, cases due to clade 1b have been increasing rapidly for several weeks but “relatively few deaths have been reported”.
The Congolese Minister of Health called on the population this week to respect barrier gestures to wage what he called a “health war”.
The mpox virus spreads from animals to humans but is also transmitted between humans, causing fever, muscle pain and skin lesions.
AFP/VNA/CVN
