Sept 12 (Askume) – Rich countries need hundreds of millions of vaccine doses to help fight the mpox epidemic in Africa and have donated far fewer doses than the actual amount, according to calculations compiled by Askume based on public statements, documents and estimates from non-governmental organisations.
Countries like Japan, the United States and Canada have been stockpiling these vaccines for years, in case smallpox, a more dangerous cousin of chickenpox, makes a comeback. When smallpox spreads around the world in 2022, some vaccines are being used outside Africa.
Disease experts say a fraction of those doses could help stop the biggest acne outbreak ever seen in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighboring countries.
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement that just under 4 million doses have been donated so far of the 18 million to 22 million doses needed to vaccinate 10 million people over the next six months.
“This is not a technical issue, it’s a political issue,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the acting head of epidemiology and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization, told Askume.
“The vaccines are sitting on the shelf, useless,” Van Kerkhove said. “Why don’t we give them to people who need them right now?”
The current outbreak began in Congo in early 2023, with Congo recording the most infections at 37,500 and 1,451 deaths. The pandemic has spread to 14 African countries, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. The first vaccination campaign is set to begin in Congo in early October, using 265,000 donated vaccines.
“If we had administered more doses earlier, we could have planned a larger campaign and reduced infections,” said Chris Cassita, head of Congo’s acne response.
Health officials are concerned about a new strain called Clade IB, which was first discovered in Congo and appears to spread more easily through close contact. Children and people with immune system diseases such as HIV are particularly vulnerable to MPOX infection. The threat outside Africa appears to be low for now.
“Children are the main victims of this pandemic. The first emergency is not getting real treatment,” Casita said.
Other factors have also hampered the mPox response, including the World Health Organization and Congo’s slow regulatory process , the high cost of vaccines, and the health crisis created by the country’s conflict.
Disease experts say the Mpox vaccine alone is not a panacea, and affected countries need to increase testing and raise awareness to respond effectively to the outbreak.
But wide disparities in access to vaccines suggest that governments are unprepared to nip the virus threat in the bud and before it spreads.
“Indifference to mumps and other viral threats poses a major threat to people around the world,” said Peter Maybarduk, director of access to medicines at U.S. consumer group Public Citizen.
Where are the doses? Three vaccines recommended by the World Health Organization are stocked worldwide: Bavarian Nordic AG’s (BAVA.CO) Genos (Imvanex or Imvammune outside the U.S.); KM Biologics’ (EBS.N) ACAM2000; .
A spokesperson for the Vaccine Alliance, a global organization that helps low-income countries purchase vaccines, said the idea is to purchase all vaccines and donate them to Africa. The organization has up to $500 million in funding for MPOX response efforts .Many wealthy countries have refused to disclose how many vaccines they have, citing national security concerns.
According to a 2022 World Health Organization document , Japan has about 200 million doses of LC16. Unlike rival vaccines, LC16 can be used in children but it is not available outside Japan and requires a special needle to administer.
Cassita said Congo is in talks with Japan for 3.5 million doses of the LC16 vaccine.
KM Biologics declined to comment. A Japanese health official said Congo has requested 3.05 million doses of the vaccine but did not confirm the timing of delivery. He said the WHO figure of 200 million is inaccurate but would not confirm the size of the national stockpile.
Adam Houston, medical policy and advocacy adviser at Doctors Without Borders Canada, said that based on company announcements from previous years, Canada may have up to 2 million doses of the Bavarian Nordic vaccine. The vaccine is intended to prevent a 2022 ampox outbreak outside Africa. This week, the Canadian government said it would donate up to 200,000 doses of the vaccine.
U.S. officials declined to say how much vaccine they have stored, but two senior Biden administration officials said it was enough to protect their people.
According to Mayburduk, this includes about 100 million doses of the Emergent vaccine and an unknown number of Genos vaccines, which experts say have fewer side effects. The United States has donated 60,000 doses of the Genos vaccine for the current outbreak.
Spain is one of the biggest donors, having pledged to donate 20% of its Mpox vaccine stock, or 500,000 doses, in August. The country has urged all EU member states to do the same.
The European Commission has signed a joint purchase contract with the Bavarian Nordic company to purchase vaccines for donation and has sent 215,000 doses of vaccines to Congo.
“Some vaccines cost around $150 to fully vaccinate a person, which is unaffordable for most African countries,” said a spokesperson for the Africa CDC team in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
