KEY POINTS
- The U.S. is donating 1 million mpox vaccine doses to Africa.
- The outbreak has spread from Congo, with risks of reaching other nations.
- Biden’s administration is pushing for vaccine production in low-income countries.
The United States is rising to the call to assist Africa fight the pox outbreak.
President Joe Biden declared that the United States will provide one million doses of the mpox vaccine and $500 million as financial assistance to African countries. This support is meant to offer solutions to the fast-spreading virus that has become a cause of concern all over the world.
Biden calls for global action
Making a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Biden called on other countries to participate in the process. “The only way to deal with mpox is to act fast”, he said. The disease has affected not only the Democratic Republic of Congo but also the neighbouring countries and India. Health officials suggest that something similar could be expected in the United States soon.
Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) reclassified mpox as a global public health emergency for the second time in two years. The strain responsible for the present epidemic, clade Ib is communicable through direct contact and sexual contact.
Although mpox is normally a relatively mild disease, it can be deadly in certain situations when accompanied by flu-like signs and painful sores on the skin.
U.S. leads in vaccine donations
Currently, Africa is experiencing mpox outbreak, yet enough vaccines are available in developed countries like the U.S.
According to a report by Reuters, the Biden administration is partnering with a multinational vaccine alliance known as Gavi to ensure vaccine equity in African countries. Most of the vaccine doses will be from the US stockpile of the Jynneos vaccine, produced by Bavarian Nordic.
Bavarian Nordic has had its first major order from Gavi, with 500, 000 doses being purchased to combat the outbreak.
Manufacturing Vaccines in Africa
As part of the vaccine donations, the Biden administration seeks to have the vaccines produced in low- and middle-income countries. Consequently, this could help to boost Africa’s capacity to produce vaccines for its population in the future by a great deal.
At the moment, no facility in Africa is capable of synthesizing the complex components of the mpox vaccine. However, the US has aligned itself with partners like Brazil to foster manufacturing development in such regions.
Lawrence Gostin, a public health expert at Georgetown University, has applauded Biden’s endeavours to develop the production of vaccines in low-income countries. However, the general view is that this will necessitate technology sharing among the pharmaceutical companies.
