Vaccines to address the escalating monkeypox (mpox) outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and its neighboring countries may not be available anytime soon.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is considering declaring the outbreak a global emergency, following the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (Africa CDC) emergency declaration on Tuesday, August 13.
The next day, a WHO panel convened to assess the global threat.
Despite hopes that these actions would accelerate international efforts, challenges such as limited vaccine supplies, funding shortages, and concurrent outbreaks present significant obstacles.
Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfum, head of Congo’s Institute National pour la Recherche Biomedicale (INRB), emphasized the urgency of an emergency declaration due to the rapid spread of the disease.
He expressed hope that such a declaration would lead to increased funding and improved vaccine access in Congo, but he also acknowledged the difficulties faced by a country already burdened by conflict and other health crises.
Africa CDC recently secured $10.4 million in emergency funding from the African Union and aims to acquire 3 million vaccine doses this year, although details remain unclear. In Congo, only 65,000 doses are expected soon, with vaccination campaigns likely delayed until October.
So far this year, Africa has reported over 15,000 suspected mpox cases and 461 deaths, primarily among children in Congo, according to Africa CDC.
While the virus is typically mild, it can be fatal, causing flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.
A new variant of the virus has sparked outbreaks in refugee camps in eastern Congo, spreading for the first time to Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, and Kenya. Ivory Coast and South Africa are also dealing with outbreaks linked to a different strain, which spread globally in 2022.
During the 2022 outbreak, two vaccines—Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos and KM Biologics’ LC16—were used.
However, neither vaccine has been available in Congo or Africa, where mpox has been endemic for decades. Only LC16 is approved for use in children.
Congo’s regulators approved these vaccines in June, but the government has yet to request them from manufacturers or donors like the United
