The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) prepares on Saturday to administer its first vaccines since the start of the current mpox epidemic, in an attempt to stem the spread of the disease in the central African country, by far the most affected to the world by the virus.
The first vaccinations are planned in Goma, in the east of the country. By mid-morning, in the largest hospital in the capital of the North Kivu province, teams from local authorities supported by several NGOs were busy setting up tents and deploying banners recalling barrier gestures with the message “Le mpox exists,” noted AFP journalists.
An official ceremony is planned for the beginning of the afternoon and the first vaccinations, particularly of hospital staff, should take place immediately, according to the program announced by the authorities.
Vaccination, the launch of which was initially planned for Wednesday, finally begins on Saturday, in a context of logistical difficulties in particular in transporting vaccines across the country, the size of four times the size of France and poor in infrastructure.
The Minister of Health Samuel-Roger Kamba, who stressed that this is not for the moment a “mass vaccination”, announced only the day before at a press conference the start of the campaign for moment limited to Goma. Eastern DRC is the region most affected by the virus.
In the neighboring province of South Kivu, where the current epidemic appeared a year ago, the first vaccines must be administered on Monday, according to local health authorities interviewed by AFP.
No date has been communicated at this stage for the start of vaccination in the crowded capital Kinshasa, where the specter of large-scale contamination looms, with a rapid increase in the number of cases recently reported by the health agency of the African Union (Africa CDC).
“Problem not resolved”
Since the start of the year, the DRC has recorded more than 30,000 cases in total and nearly 990 deaths with increased mortality noted among children.
“Almost 70% of deaths concern children under the age of five,” lamented the Minister of Health on Friday. However, vaccination only concerns adults at this stage.
The country, among the five poorest on the planet, received 265,000 doses donated by the European Union and the United States last month. This vaccine, manufactured by the Danish laboratory Bavarian Nordic, is approved only for use in adults. Tests are currently being carried out for possible administration to under-17s.
Another vaccine against mpox, which can be used in children, is authorized by Japan, with which the DRC is in discussions for a possible supply of some three million doses.
“You can imagine that in a country of 100 million inhabitants, it is not with 265,000 doses that we solve the problem,” the Minister of Health insisted on Friday.
The DRC is also awaiting the delivery of 100,000 vaccines promised by France. And the country must also receive 4,500 early diagnostic tests to better fight the epidemic with rapid treatment and care.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that it had given the green light to a PCR test to detect the DNA of the virus with swabs from skin lesions.
Several outbreaks of mpox are currently underway in central Africa. The resurgence of cases and the appearance of a new variant in the DRC had pushed the WHO to trigger its highest level of global alert in August.
The virus is currently present in sixteen countries in Africa, according to the African Union health agency (Africa CDC).
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