Vaccine shortage hinders mpox inoculation in Africa
However, experts say the global shortage of mpox vaccines will affect any inoculation drives in Africa.
Professor Salim Abdool Karim, a virologist at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, South Africa, said there are currently three types of vaccines for mpox, but they are hard to obtain.
“They aren’t available, and if people are to start manufacturing them now, it will take quite a while before doses will become available,” he said, adding that price is also an obstacle. “They sell for between $100 to $200 a dose, and you need to give everybody two doses. So that’s a very expensive vaccine.”
The mpox ailment, formally known as monkeypox due to its original discovery in monkeys in Denmark, was first detected in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been the epicenter of the current outbreak.
Karim said mpox, which previously did not pose serious health concerns, has been mutating and the current strain is worrying, especially for Africa’s younger population, which is more susceptible.
“If left unchecked, we will see mpox spread quite rapidly. And the reason it will spread rapidly is because it is now sexually transmitted. And we’ve seen from other sexually transmitted infections like HIV … that sexually transmitted infections can spread quite widely in Africa,” he said.
Since July, mpox cases have been detected in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, as well as the DRC.
Kenya has recorded two cases, and hopes to receive vaccine doses as part of the international effort to stop transmission of the disease.
Kenyan Ministry of Health officials, however, say they are worried about the global vaccine shortage.
“Africa requires 10 million doses,” said Dr. Patrick Amoth, director general for health in Kenya. “What could be available up to the end of the year is two million doses, if the … manufacturer of the vaccine repurposes its manufacturing capacity to stop manufacturing — or scale down the manufacture of — other vaccines and prioritizes manufacture of the mpox vaccine.
“So, in terms of priority, of course it will be pegged on the number of cases that each and every country gets. So, for now, we cannot even … start talking about vaccination if we have only recorded two cases of the disease.”
Amoth said there is no cause for alarm as the country has put in place measures to deal with the outbreak of the disease.
“We have formed rapid response teams to be able to support counties in terms of contact tracing and other logistics required, including case management,” he said.
Karim is challenging African countries to move toward developing their own vaccines locally, saying he worries wealthy countries could be hoarding the available vaccines for their own citizens.
“I’m pretty convinced that if African scientists put their heads together, we can make an mpox vaccine and we can manufacture it right here in Africa,” he said. “It’s not rocket science. It just needs the investments to be made to do that.”
As the wait for vaccines continues, health experts say testing, contact tracing, and public education are the best strategies in dealing with the outbreak in Africa, at least for now.