Germany to donate 100,000 mpox vaccine shots to contain outbreak in Africa

Germany has decided to donate 100,000 mpox vaccine doses from its military reserves to support efforts to contain the outbreak in Africa, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

The donation aims to provide short-term assistance to affected countries and will be complemented by flexible financial support to the World Health Organization (WHO) through various channels, said the spokesperson, adding that Germany has around 117,000 doses of Jynneos, which is being stockpiled by the German army after Berlin procured it in 2022.

The WHO has declared mpox a global public health emergency due to the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo spreading to neighboring countries and concerns about the transmission speed of the new clade Ib virus variant.

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The government was looking at the quickest way to get the vaccines to the affected countries, primarily the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also Burundi and neighbouring countries in East Africa, according to a foreign ministry spokesperson.

The European Union has urged its members to coordinate their donations of mpox vaccines to African countries, rather than do this individually. The European Commission has a joint procurement contract with vaccine maker Bavarian Nordic (BAVA.CO), opens new tab, to buy vaccines for donations.

“European donations will have more immediate impact if they are coordinated,” EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides said in a letter dated Aug. 22 that was addressed to the health ministers of EU countries.

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Germany so far has no reported cases of the clade 1 strain of mpox that has triggered global concern due to the ease with which it spreads though routine close contact, it said.

The ministry added that the government was closely monitoring the situation but it did not see an increased risk from clade 1 in Germany, which it assumes could also be contained effectively with the currently available mpox vaccines.

With inputs from agencies.