Moscow: The European Commission is coordinating the procurement and donation of more than 215,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the European Commission said.
On Tuesday, the Africa CDC declared a public health emergency over the monkeypox outbreak on the continent and called on the international community to help collect about 2 million doses of the vaccine. At least 15,074 mpox cases, including 2,853 confirmed and 12,221 suspected cases, and 461 deaths were reportedly registered across 12 member states of the African Union from January to July.
“The European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority, HERA, will procure and donate 175,420 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine, the only FDA and EMA-approved mpox vaccine, as an immediate response to the mpox outbreak in Africa. In addition, the pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic will donate 40,000 doses to HERA. The Africa CDC will distribute the vaccines according to regional needs,” the EU Commission said in a statement on Wednesday.
Mpox, also known as monkeypox, is a rare infectious disease that is also transmitted between people. It is usually a mild disease that most people recover from within a few weeks, but some may have complications. The initial symptoms of mpox include fever, headache, muscle aches, back pain, enlarged lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion. A rash may develop, often starting on the face and then spreading to other parts of the body.
