Mpox vaccine shortage delays DR Congo’s drive against outbreak

Congo’s mpox control programme on Wednesday said Congo has been unable to launch mpox vaccination campaign in Kinshasa due to shortage of doses, while cases countrywide continue to rise, especially among children.

Cris Kacita, the head of operations for Congo’s mpox control programme said the World Health Organization declared mpox a global health emergency in mid-August, after a new strain began spreading from Congo to neighbouring countries.

Kacita said donors have been slow to translate their promises into money and vaccines, according to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kacita, said on Tuesday it had 53,921 doses of vaccine left for use in prisons where people are at high risk due to squalid conditions but it needed over 162,000 doses to launch a vaccination programme in the capital.

So far, the capital, with nearly 20 million inhabitants, has been less affected than regions elsewhere in the country. Vaccination programmes are underway in six other provinces.

France has pledged 100,000 doses, along with other shipments from Germany and the African Union. But it is not known when they are due to arrive, Kacita said.

He said the arrival of vaccines was also delayed by the administrative process, which includes sending an official request, manufacturing, preparing documents and getting import authorisations.

“As long as we don’t have the necessary quantity, it’s going to be complicated to launch (vaccination) in the 14 health zones,” Kacita told Reuters, referring to areas of Kinshasa.

Congo as a whole reported 1,017 new suspected cases from Oct. 28 to Nov. 2, including 45 confirmed cases and 16 deaths, a health ministry report said.

Charity Save the Children said on Wednesday that targeted vaccinations were needed to stop the virus spreading rapidly among children, who are nearly four times more likely to die from the new strain of mpox than adults.

According to the aid agency’s data, suspected cases among children in Congo have increased by over 130 per cent since Aug. 14 to 25,600 from 11,300, as of Nov. 3.

“Children are especially vulnerable to mpox – they explore by touch and taste, don’t always understand health guidance, and have weaker immune systems than adults,” Katia Vieira de Moraes LaCasse from Save the Children said.