Several nations have committed to donating mpox vaccine doses to combat the outbreak in Africa, following the World Health Organization’s declaration of a global public health emergency in August, marking the second such declaration in two years.
These donations aim to address the stark inequity that left African countries without access to vaccines during the 2022 global outbreak.
Here’s a list of countries and their pledged donations, using vaccines made by Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic or Japan’s KM Biologics:
Canada will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses, a government spokesperson announced on September 12. The number of doses to be donated will depend on the receiving countries’ storage and administration capacity.
France will donate 100,000 doses based on “locally identified needs,” according to its health ministry’s website, last updated on September 6.
Germany will donate 100,000 doses from its military stocks to help control the outbreak in the short term, a government spokesperson said on August 26.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government has requested at least 2 million vaccine doses from Japan, a senior official and a Congolese official said on August 27. Japan’s government had previously stated that Congo had requested doses without specifying the number.
Spain will donate 500,000 doses, or 20% of its stockpile, according to its health ministry on August 27. They also urged the European Commission to propose that all EU member states donate 20% of their respective vaccine stockpiles.
On August 22, the U.S. State Department announced it would donate 50,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo, along with financial support for vaccine rollout.
On August 27, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced a donation of 10,000 mpox vaccine doses to Nigeria.
The EU, which has a joint procurement contract with Bavarian Nordic for vaccines, has pledged to share 215,000 doses with affected African countries. They also urged member states to coordinate donations rather than acting individually.
The bloc’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) agreed in August to procure 175,420 doses of Bavarian’s vaccine and donate them to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while Bavarian Nordic will donate an additional 40,000 doses.