The Administrative Authority is distributing nearly all its Mpox vaccine reserves to the African continent.
Germany is about to gift around 100,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine from its own stocks to countries facing the brunt of the disease, mainly in Africa. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit shared this information in Berlin on Monday, adding that these doses will become available from the Bundeswehr's reserves "soon." The main motive is to strengthen collaborative efforts worldwide to curb the Mpox outbreak on the African continent.
As it stands, Germany possesses around 118,000 doses of the vaccine, with no definite plans to order more just yet.
The number of Mpox cases and fatalities in Africa has been on the rise since July. Reports of outbreaks have surfaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. The World Health Organization (WHO) has pronounced the more harmful 1b virus variant's ongoing outbreak a global health crisis.
In addition to sending doses, countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) should also receive additional support, according to Hebestreit. The WHO will receive financial aid to manage Mpox through the emergency fund provided by the organization. Moreover, the German federal government will work alongside its African partners using the vaccine alliance Gavi and will assist with logistics and distribution.
In the interim, the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development will transfer a mobile laboratory to the Congo rapidly, as announced by Hebestreit. The federal government is also preparing to dispatch a rapid-response expert team to east Congo. Long-term goals also involve supporting the African Union (AU) in developing local vaccine manufacturing capabilities.
The European Union could potentially join forces with Germany in providing aid, as Hebestreit suggested collaborating with the vaccine alliance Gavi, which is a part of the EU's global health strategy. Furthermore, strengthening the African Union's (AU) ability to produce vaccines locally would be beneficial, aligning with the European Union's commitment to global health cooperation.
