DRC launches first mpox vaccination program in efforts to contain outbreak | Health News

The vaccine will first be given to health workers and those with existing health problems.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched its first mpox vaccination campaign in the eastern city of Goma, which has been hit hard by the outbreak.

The vaccines were first given to hospital staff on Saturday, with a major vaccination campaign to begin on Monday in the east of the country, where the current outbreak began last year.

On Friday, the Ministry of Public Health in the DRC warned that the vaccination campaign will be limited due to limited resources. So far, only 265,000 doses are available.

“As you can imagine, in a country with 100 million people, we will not solve the problem with 265,000 doses,” said Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba at a press conference on Friday.

He went on to say that the purpose of this campaign is to focus on priority groups including those with existing health problems and health workers.

Additional doses of the vaccine are expected to arrive from France, Japan and the United States.

Last month, US President Joe Biden said that Washington plans to donate one million doses of the mpox vaccine to African countries.

The director of the World Health Organization in Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said in a statement that the release of the vaccine marks “an important step in stopping the spread of this virus and ensuring the safety of families and communities”.

Since the beginning of 2024, the DRC has reported more than 30,000 suspected and confirmed cases of mpox, and 900 deaths, the World Health Organization said.

The virus can be spread through close contact with an infected person or animal. Once infected, the virus usually causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled sores on the body.

In August, the WHO declared mpox a public health emergency after discovering a new, highly contagious strain, named clade Ib.

According to the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention, mpox has been found in 16 African countries so far this year.

On Friday, the WHO announced that it has approved a PCR test to detect pox by swabbing skin lesions.

Kamba said that the WHO had promised that about 4,500 tests would be carried out for the DRC but did not give an arrival date.