Gavi buys 500,000 doses of monkeypox vaccine to support Africa

The money to buy the vaccine comes from the Emergency Response Fund, set up by the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) in June. The price of each dose has not been disclosed, but Gavi said it was “doing everything possible to reduce the price”.

However, Africa still needs a lot more vaccines, an estimated 10 million doses to fight the epidemic. To solve the supply problem, on July 13, the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified the MVA-BN vaccine to prevent monkeypox. This agency hopes to facilitate access to vaccines and promptly prevent the epidemic.

Meanwhile, vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic has pledged to increase supply, expecting to provide 13 million injections in 2025. It could provide two million doses in the last three months of 2024. In addition, Gavi plans to establish a monkeypox vaccine reserve to prevent future outbreaks.

Monkeypox is a viral disease that spreads through close contact. Symptoms are similar to the flu, with pus-filled blisters. Most cases are mild, but it can become severe and be fatal.

WHO declared the outbreak in Africa a public health emergency in August. Since the beginning of 2024, nearly 25,000 cases of monkeypox have been recorded in Africa, a 104% increase over last year. Previously, in 2021-2023, the world recorded 92,000 infections and 167 deaths, peaking in 2022 with more than 70 countries reporting cases.

Africa is currently the only region where monkeypox is endemic. However, the region has limited access to vaccines due to limited supplies and lack of financial capacity.