Geneva : Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Friday that monkeypox vaccines will arrive in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the coming days to confront a new strain of the virus.
At a press conference, Tedros indicated that “the first shipment of vaccines will arrive soon, with shipments increasing in the subsequent period.”
For his part, Tim Nguyen, an official at the organization, explained that there are about 230,000 doses ready to be sent immediately, which are donations provided by the European Commission and the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, the company producing the vaccine.
The World Health Organization added that its partners have the flexibility to start purchasing vaccines before obtaining WHO approval, as part of facilitating the faster delivery of vaccines to Africa.
The organization is currently reviewing applications for emergency licenses for two vaccines produced by the Japanese companies Bavarian Nordic and KM Biologics, with these licenses expected to be granted within the next two weeks.
Earlier this month, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a global public health emergency after the virus spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and spread to neighboring countries.
Tedros noted that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has recorded more than 18,000 suspected cases of monkeypox this year, with 629 deaths, and more than 150 confirmed cases in Burundi.
