GENEVA: The World Health Organization’s chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday said the first delivery of mpox vaccines is expected to arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the coming days.
The WHO declared an international emergency over mpox on August 14, concerned by the increase in cases of a new variant, the Clade 1b, in DR Congo and it’s spread to nearby states.
Tedros, after returning from DR Congo on Friday, told a press conference in Geneva: “We hope to have the first delivery in the next few days”.
He said more than 18,000 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in the African nation so far this year, with 629 deaths.
The data included more than 5,000 cases and 31 deaths from the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, where the new Clade 1b variant has been spreading fast.
“The number of reported cases of Clade 1b has been rising rapidly for several weeks. Fortunately, relatively few deaths have been reported in recent weeks,” said Tedros.
He said in addition, 258 cases of Clade 1b have been reported in Burundi, four in Uganda, four in Rwanda, two in Kenya and one each in Sweden and Thailand.
Tedros during his visit to the DRC, held a meeting with President Felix Tshisekedi to discuss the outbreaks, the importance of clear communication on the virus and strong engagement with the local population.
He said WHO is working to accelerate access to and delivery of, vaccines in the affected region. He hoped that the UN health agency would be able to stop these outbreaks in the next six months.
