Nigeria is to begin the immediate rollout of 5,000 doses of mpox vaccines while the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) eyes its first shipment of 65,000 doses, as Africa steps up measures to control the multi-country outbreak. The vaccine, administered in two doses, will go first to people at high-risk, including health workers and those living in areas with high infection rates, according to Nigeria's National Primary Healthcare Development Agency. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, said the delivery of 10,000 doses to Nigeria by USAID this week signified "a clear demonstration of international solidarity in the face of global public health emergencies".
Nigeria became the first African country to receive the vaccine after confirming 40 cases of the disease, whose symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes and a rash leading to blisters. The DRC, the country worst affected, is expecting to receive 65,000 doses of the vaccine on 1 September, announced Jean Kaseya, director-general of the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), during an online press conference on Wednesday (28 August). He said 50,000 doses would be sent by the US while 15,000 will be provided by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Kaseya said the JYNNEOS vaccine, made by Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic, was one of the surest ways of stopping the mpox epidemic, alongside epidemiological surveillance and screening. He stressed the vaccine was the same one used in.