UNICEF has issued an emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries in collaboration with the Gavi vaccine alliance, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and the WHO, the organizations said in a joint statement on Saturday.
Depending on the production capacity of manufacturers, agreements for up to 12 million doses through next year can be made, the organizations said.
Under the tender, UNICEF would set up conditional supply agreements with vaccine manufacturers, they said.
Photo: Reuters
This would enable UNICEF to purchase and ship vaccines without delay, once financing, demand, readiness and regulatory requirements are confirmed.
The collaboration — which would also include working with the Vaccine Alliance and the Pan American Health Organization — would facilitate donations of vaccines from existing stockpiles in high-income countries.
The statement added that WHO is reviewing information submitted by manufacturers on Aug. 23 and expects to complete a review for an emergency use listing by the middle of this month.
The agency is reviewing applications for emergency licenses for two vaccines made by Bavarian Nordic and Japan’s KM Biologics.
Earlier last month, the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that spread to neighboring countries.
More than 18,000 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in the nation so far this year with 629 deaths, while more than 150 cases have been confirmed in Burundi, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Sweden and Thailand have confirmed cases of the clade 1b type of the virus, outside of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and neighboring countries.
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