Democratic Republic of Congo began the vaccination campaign on Saturday for the ongoing Mpox outbreak, three days later than it was initially planned. The vaccines were supposed to be rolled out on Wednesday, however, speaking to AFP, the health authorities said that this would not be the case. Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba on Friday confirmed the start date.
Kamba told a press conference in the DRC capital Kinshasa, “We are launching, from tomorrow, October 5, the vaccination campaign.” Vaccinations will be given in the North Kivu provincial capital Goma in eastern DRC, the region hardest hit by the current epidemic. The central African country has received 265,000 vaccine doses, which include donations from the United States and European Union.
Kamba said, “It will not be a mass vaccination campaign ...
the strategy is to vaccinate people most at risk.” He also added that the aim was to target people such as those with existing health conditions and health workers. With the number of vaccine doses DRC currently has “it’s already enough to start in the most affected zones”, he said.
“We are still waiting for more,” the minister added. Kamba said that since the start of the year, the country has recorded between 30,000 and 31,000 mpox cases, as well as 988 deaths. He said 70 per cent of the deaths are of those aged under five, adding that “children are the most affected by the virus”.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) approved the use of the first.