First mpox vaccines due in DR Congo on Sep 5

KINSHASA: The first delivery of almost 100,000 doses of mpox vaccines will arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday (Sep 5), the African Union’s health watchdog said, with a total of 200,000 jabs expected this week.
The vast central Africa country of around 100 million people is at the epicentre of the mpox outbreak, with cases and deaths rising.
“We are very pleased with the arrival of this first batch of vaccines in the DRC,” Jean Kaseya, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, told AFP, adding that more than 99,000 doses were expected on Thursday.
UNICEF says that thousands of children in the DRC and neighbouring countries are at serious risk of contracting the disease.
“We are in a health war against mpox. To face this disease, we need you,” Congolese Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said on X on Tuesday.
In Africa, mpox is now present in at least 13 countries, including Burundi, Congo-Brazzaville and the Central African Republic, according to figures from Africa CDC dated Aug 27.