LIVE UPDATES
The Congolese Health Minister, Samuel Roger Kamba Mulamba, has said the country is expected to receive its first doses of Mpox vaccines by next week.
The development became possible following the promise from the United States and Japan to support the Democratic Republic of the Congo's efforts in combating its ongoing outbreak.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) had last week declared mpox a global public health emergency for the second time, citing the rapid spread of a new variant, clade Ib, across Africa.
This declaration has intensified global efforts and response to addressing the disease, particularly in African nations where the outbreak has been worst hit.
Kamba Mulamba in a press conference on Tuesday announced that discussions with USAID and the U.S. government had concluded, paving the way for the vaccines’ arrival in the DRC.
He said, “I hope that by next week we’ll be able to see the vaccines arrival."
Earlier on Monday, Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare confirmed its commitment to providing Congo with mpox vaccines and needles in collaboration with the WHO and other partners.
A section Chief of the Ministry's Division of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Masano Tsuzuki, said that Japan “intends to provide as much support as possible.”
The mpox vaccine that Japan plans to supply is produced by KM Biologics, while Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic manufactures another vaccine, known as Jynneos.
Despite the availability of these vaccines in Europe and the United States, they have not been accessible in Congo or across Africa, where the disease has been endemic for decades.
Last week, the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (GAVI) announced it had allocated up to $500 million to procure and distribute mpox vaccines to countries grappling with the escalating outbreak in Africa.
