(Bloomberg) -- Mpox vaccine donations, the fastest way to get shots to the Democratic Republic of Congo, are being held up because the African nation is yet to make a formal request, according to the head of the global vaccination partnership.
Discussions on donating mpox shots are at an advanced stage with both the US and Japan, Sania Nishtar, chief executive officer of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, said in an interview. The US announced Wednesday it would donate 50,000 doses to Congo to help the country handle the the fast-spreading outbreak that was declared a global public health emergency by the World Health Organization.
“For several weeks we have been waiting for an official request from the DRC government, and the United States government is also waiting for an official request,” said Nishtar. Once that request lands official arrangements will be made for the vaccines to be delivered to the countries affected by the outbreak, she said.
Congo has seen more than 15,600 suspected mpox cases since the beginning of the year in almost all its provinces. The government is setting up a public information campaign and working closely with the CDC and African Union, Roger Kamba, the nation’s minister of health said.
“We have developed and validated a national strategic plan for vaccination against” mpox, Kamba said in a video posted on X. He didn’t provide details and Congo’s government did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The African nation is weighing its options and doing a technical analysis, said Nishtar.
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Other potential donors are also involved in bilateral negotiations with affected countries, as well as the Africa CDC, she said.
“We are trying to map all possible sources of potential donations,” said Nishtar, adding that gifts of already produced vaccines are a far quicker way of getting shots to people who need them than manufacturing the shots from scratch.
Gavi, which played a central role in getting Covid-19 vaccines, including facilitating the donation of Covid-19 shots to low- and middle-income countries during the pandemic, has access to $500 million for the immediate response to mpox. That cash forms part of a new $2.5 billion facility agreed by the organization’s board earlier this year for emergency response.
One of the few producers of mpox vaccines, Bavarian Nordic A/S, has said it has the ability to produce up to 10 million vaccine doses — meeting the demand in Africa. However, the company has said it needs confirmed orders to start production.
Gavi is involved in discussions about procuring doses directly.
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