The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched its first vaccination campaign against mpox in the eastern city of Goma, with priority given to health workers and those with existing health issues. The campaign began with vaccines being administered to hospital staff on Saturday, with wider distribution scheduled to begin on Monday. However, limited resources mean that only 265,000 doses are currently available in a country of 100 million people.
More doses are expected to arrive from France, Japan, and the United States, with the US pledging to donate one million doses to African nations. The World Health Organization has called the vaccine rollout an important step in limiting the spread of the virus, which has already resulted in over 30,000 cases and 900 deaths in the DRC since the start of 2024.
Mvox spreads through close contact with an infected person or animal, causing flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. A new, more infectious variant named clade Ib was discovered in August, prompting the WHO to declare a public health emergency. The virus has been detected in 16 African countries this year, prompting the WHO to approve a PCR test to detect Mvox by swabbing skin lesions. The WHO has pledged 4,500 tests for the DRC, although no arrival date has been provided.
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