By Kemo Cham in Addis Ababa
As the world rallies to contain the spread of Mpox, the Africa Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has announced a major progress in the frontline against the virus for the continent.
The continental public health agency announced a plan by a leading vaccine manufacturer to produce millions of doses for the continent.
Bavarian Nordic, a Denmark based biotechnology company, said it is prepared to ramp-up vaccine manufacturing to ensure the continued equitable access to the Mpox vaccine.
Bavarian Nordic, which owns the only approved Mpox vaccine in the world, said it is in talks with the Africa CDC to materialize this commitment.
Africa CDC earlier this month declared Mpox a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security, in an effort to enhance coordination of efforts against the epidemic that has been ravaging many countries on the continent.
Africa CDC Director General, Dr Jean Kaseya, has since said that his target is to provide at least 10 million doses of the vaccine by the end of 2025. This is said to be the required doses needed to place Africa on track to contain the current outbreak which is particularly concentrated in central and eastern Africa.
Bavarian Nordic in its statement said that it had the capacity to manufacture the 10 million doses by the end of 2025, in addition to orders already placed by the continental public health agency. The company said it could even supply up to two million doses of the vaccine by the end of this year.
Dr Kaseya on Tuesday hailed the development as a major progress in efforts against the viral disease. He told journalists during his weekly press briefing on Mpox that an even more important aspect of this deal with Bavarian Nordic is the potential collaboration with local African vaccine manufacturers.
“The 10 million doses we are talking about is not a dream. We have a clear plan, by end of 2025, to have these 10 million doses in Africa,” said Dr Kaseya at the presser.
According to Africa CDC, the agreement is that the company will seek to produce the mpox vaccine in Africa though transfer of technology to selected local manufacturers.
This week’s briefing was convened from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Africa CDC boss was, as part of his ongoing consultations with key stakeholders, including countries affected by the virus, to ensure proper coordination in the response efforts.
Dr Kaseya also praised the European Union, which is also partnering with the Africa CDC to put mechanisms in place for over 200, 000 doses of the vaccine that have already been procured.
“The announcement gives us hope,” the Africa CDC said.
Tuesday’s update revealed that Mpox continued its spread with increase in cases and deaths in the last one week.
According to the data, there was an increase of 1, 400 cases in one week, and 24 deaths within the same period.
Thirteen countries on the continue have recorded cases this year so far.
The Jynneos vaccine, also known as Imvanex, was originally manufactured and approved for small pox, a disease caused by the same virus that causes Mpox. But the vaccine, approved by both the United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), is only cleared to be used on adults aged 18 and above.
Bavarian Nordic hopes to get approval from the World Health Organization (WHO) to deploy the vaccine for people under the age of 18. This is important in that, this category of people is the most affected by the current outbreak, according to Africa CDC data.
