"We are very pleased with the arrival of this first batch of vaccines in the DRCongo. The 99,100 doses will arrive at Kinshasa airport tomorrow, Thursday, September 5, at 12:10 pm", Jean Kaseya told AFP.
"We thank the European Union, through the European Health Emergency Response Authority, for immediately responding to our call for solidarity to ensure access to the smallpox vaccine in affected African Union countries," he added.
DRCongo, the country most affected by the epidemic and which borders Angola, has recorded more than 17,500 cases and 629 deaths since the beginning of the year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
In Africa, the epidemic is now present in 13 countries, including Burundi (796 cases), Congo-Brazzaville (162 cases) and Central African Republic (45 cases), according to Africa CDC data from August 27.
The resurgence of mpox on the continent and the emergence of a new variant (clade 1b) led the WHO to activate its highest global alert level in mid-August.
On August 30, the organization indicated that around 230,000 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine, produced by Danish pharmaceutical laboratory Bavarian Nordic, were "immediately available for shipment to affected regions".
Spain (500,000 doses), France and Germany (100,000 doses each) also promised to send vaccines to African countries.
In late August, the WHO Africa office announced the delivery of 10,000 doses of vaccines to Nigeria, thus becoming the first African country to receive doses – excluding clinical trials – in response to the epidemic.
These Bavarian Nordic vaccines had been donated by the United States.
Smallpox, formerly known as monkeypox, is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans but is also transmitted between humans, causing fever, muscle pain, and skin lesions.
