(ANSA) – ROME, 05 SEPTEMBER – Nearly 100,000 doses of the vaccine against mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, have arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the new epidemic that has recorded over 19,000 cases and more than 650 deaths since January. A second delivery of around 100,000 vaccines is expected to arrive in the coming days. This was announced in an update published on the website of the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).
These vaccines are part of the 215,000 doses that the European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (Hera) has purchased and committed to sharing with African countries, as an immediate response to the mpox epidemic, which was declared an international health emergency by the WHO on August 14.
Through Team Europe, an additional 351,500 doses of Mva-Bn from France, Germany, Spain, Malta, Portugal, Luxembourg, Croatia, Austria, Poland and other Member States will be donated to the Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CD) for distribution to affected countries. This will bring the total number of vaccine doses donated by Team Europe to at least 566,500.
The European Union, through regular meetings of the Health Security Committee, is actively coordinating the response of Member States to the mpox outbreak in Congo and neighbouring countries. The Commission has focused on strengthening health systems, securing pharmaceutical supply chains and developing local production through investments in infrastructure. (ANSA).
2024-09-06 08:18:35