(VOVWORLD) - The World Health Organization said on Friday its partners such as Gavi and UNICEF can start buying mpox vaccines before they are approved by the UN health agency, to get inoculations to Africa faster as the continent battles an escalating outbreak of the virus.
 A person holds doses of Bavarian Nordic's Imvanex vaccine, used to protect against mpox virus, at the Edison municipal vaccination centre in Paris, France on July 27, 2022. (Photo: Reuters) |
Traditionally, organisations like Gavi, which helps lower-income countries buy vaccines, can only start purchasing shots once they have approval from the WHO. But the rules have been relaxed in this instance to get talks moving, as the WHO's approval is due in a few weeks.
Two vaccines, made by Denmark's Bavarian Nordic and Japan's KM Biologics, are already approved by regulators around the world, including the US and Japan, and have been in widespread use for mpox since 2022. The WHO is expected to grant an emergency license to the shots in September.
However Bavarian Nordic said this week it needed orders immediately from organisations such as Gavi and the WHO to make more shots this year, raising fears that lower-income countries could miss out or be forced to rely on precarious donations from high-income countries, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some donated mpox vaccines are due to arrive in Africa next week, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has said, adding that 10 million doses are needed. Mpox, a viral infection that spreads through close contact and is usually mild but can kill, was declared a public emergency of international concern by the WHO last week.