DR Congo no longer expects to receive mpox vaccines this week

By Sonia Rolley

PARIS (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo no longer expects to receive its first delivery of mpox vaccines this week, the head of its response team said on Monday, as Congo battles a new variant of the virus that has spread beyond its borders.

The World Health Organization declared mpox a global public health emergency on Aug. 14 for the second time in two years.

On Aug. 19, Congo's health minister said the Central African country hoped to receive its first doses of a vaccine by this week, following promises from the United States and Japan to help it fight its outbreak.

But asked whether Congo would begin receiving the doses this week, Cris Kacita, the head of Congo's response team, told Reuters: "No. There are still several processes to follow."

He said the Congolese pharmaceutical regulatory agency would first need to be in touch with Danish drugmaker Bavaria Nordic for guidance before the vaccines arrive in the country.

"So we're waiting," Kacita said.

Bavarian Nordic, one of the few drug firms that currently has an mpox vaccine available, said in mid-August it had informed the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that it can manufacture 10 million doses of the vaccine by the end of 2025.

It said it could already supply up to 2 million doses this year.

The vaccine doses' arrival would help to address a huge inequity that left African countries with no access to the two shots used in a 2022 global mpox outbreak, while the vaccines were widely available in Europe and the United States.

Since January 2023, there have been more than 27,000 suspected cases and 1,100 deaths in Congo, according to government figures, mainly among children.

Mpox vaccines have already been made available in more than 70 countries outside Africa.

(Writing by Portia Crowe; Editing by Alison Williams)