WHO, World Health Organization (Photo: Reuters)
The World Health Organization said Friday that its partners such as Gavi and Unicef can start buying MPOX vaccines before they are approved by the U.N. health agency, in a bid to bring inoculations to Africa faster as the continent battles a growing outbreak of the virus.
Traditionally, organisations like Gavi, which helps low-income countries buy vaccines, can only start buying doses once they receive WHO approval. But in this case, the rules have been relaxed to allow talks to move forward, with WHO approval expected within weeks.
Two vaccines, made by Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic and Japan’s KM Biologics, have already been approved by regulators around the world, including the United States and Japan, and have been widely used for MPOX since 2022. About 1.2 million people have received Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine in the United States alone. The WHO is expected to grant emergency licensing to the vaccines in September.
Last week, the WHO declared Mpox, a viral infection that spreads through close contact and is usually mild but can be fatal, a public emergency of international concern after a new variant of the virus spread rapidly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere.
Earlier this month, the WHO asked vaccine manufacturers to submit information so it could speed up its approval process and grant an emergency license by mid-September.
But this week, one of the vaccine makers, Bavarian Nordic, said it needed immediate orders from organisations such as Gavi and the WHO to produce more doses this year, raising fears that low-income countries could run out or be forced to rely once again on meagre donations from high-income countries, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some donated MPOX vaccines are expected to arrive in Africa next week, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
First published: August 23, 2024 | 18:46 IS
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