Mon Sep 09 14:49:25 UTC 2024: ## Congo to Launch Mpox Vaccination Campaign Amidst Growing Crisis
**Kinshasa, Congo** – A vaccination campaign against mpox will begin in Congo on October 2nd, with the focus initially on the three provinces most affected by the outbreak: Equateur, South Kivu, and Sankuru. The campaign aims to curb the rapidly escalating mpox crisis in the country, which has been identified as the epicenter of the global health emergency.
The first 100,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine, donated by the European Union, arrived earlier this week. An additional 100,000 doses were delivered on Saturday, bringing the total to 200,000. However, this only covers a small fraction of the estimated 3 million doses needed to effectively combat the outbreak. The European Union has pledged to donate over 500,000 more doses, but the timeline for their arrival remains unclear.
Since the start of 2024, Congo has recorded 91% of the continent’s 5,549 confirmed mpox cases, with a concerning 643 associated deaths. Worryingly, most infections are occurring in children under 15 years old.
The vaccination campaign will initially target adults, with priority given to those who have had close contact with infected individuals and sex workers. Although the European Medicines Agency is currently evaluating data for the vaccine’s use in children aged 12-17, the final approval is not expected until the end of this month.
The African Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization have launched a continent-wide response plan to combat the mpox outbreak, following the WHO’s declaration of a global health emergency three weeks ago.
First Piper 