Rwanda begins mpox vaccination — first in Africa

Rwanda has commenced the first African administration of the mpox vaccine, with several hundred high-risk individuals vaccinated.

Jean Kaseya, director-general of the Africa Centre for Disease Control (Africa CDC), told journalists on Thursday that the first 300 doses were administered on Tuesday.

He added that the exercise was carried out near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the “high-risk populations” are.

“This outbreak must be stopped very quickly,” Kaseya said.

“We also need this vaccine to start to be manufactured in Africa, and we are working strongly and closely with our manufacturers and also our partners to have these vaccines manufactured from one of the African countries.”

The Rwandan ministry of health also announced the vaccination campaign, saying it is targeted at “health workers, cross-border business operators, hospitality workers, and other high-risk groups”.

The DR Congo has been the epicenter of the outbreak in Africa, with 2,912 new mpox cases and 14 deaths recorded in the last one week.

This has taken the tally of cases to 6,105 and 738 deaths since the beginning of the year.

Tedros Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organisation (WHO), on Thursday, urged more countries to contribute to the response.

“International collaboration and support are needed to stop the spread of the virus,” he wrote on X.

The DR Congo is expected to start its vaccination campaign in the first week of October.

Around 165,000 doses have so far been delivered to the country, with hundreds of thousands more pledged by European countries.

In August, the United States government donated 10,000 doses of the mpox vaccine to Nigeria to support efforts in responding to the current outbreak.

The donation was made through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and was received by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) on behalf of the federal government.