UNICEF announced on Saturday that it had launched an "emergency call for tenders" to obtain vaccines against MPOX to help the countries most affected.
"Depending on demand, manufacturers' production capacity and funding, agreements for up to 12 million doses in 2025 can be put in place," UNICEF said in a statement, released with the World Health Organization, the Gavi Vaccine Alliance and the Africa CDC (Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention).
This "emergency call for tenders is designed to guarantee immediate access to available vaccines against MPOX as well as to increase production," the press release specifies.
Under this call for tenders, UNICEF wants to put in place supply agreements allowing it to acquire and distribute the vaccines "without delay, once countries and partners have secured financing, confirmed needs and their level of preparedness, and the regulatory requirements for the acceptance of vaccines are in place".
The resurgence of MPOX in Africa, affecting the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other countries on the continent (notably Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda), and the appearance of a new variant (1b) prompted the WHO to trigger its highest level of global health alert on August 14.
More than 18,000 suspected cases of MPOX, including 629 deaths, have been reported this year in the DRC, "which is the epicentre of the crisis", according to the press release, which specifies that "four out of five deaths concern children".
There are two main families, called "clades", of the virus. Clade 1 is mainly present in Central Africa, in the Congo Basin. Clade 2 circulates rather in West Africa.
Two subgroups of mpox circulate in the DRC: clade 1a, in the west of the country and clade 1b, in the east.
The WHO recommends the use of the MVA-BN vaccines, produced by the Danish pharmaceutical laboratory Bavarian Nordic, or LC16, produced by the Japanese company KM Biologics, or the ACAM2000 vaccine, produced in the United States, when the first two are not available.
As the MVA-BN and LC16 have not yet obtained full WHO prequalification, a long and complex process, the organization has launched an emergency review.
"WHO is currently reviewing the information submitted by manufacturers on 23 August and is expected to complete its review for emergency use listing by mid-September," the statement said.
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