The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) officially launched its vaccination campaign on Saturday to try to stop the spread of the mpox epidemic in this Central African country, by far the most affected in the world by the virus.
Vaccination, which was initially scheduled to begin on Wednesday, was postponed in particular due to delays in the deployment of precious doses across the country, the size of four times the size of France and poor in infrastructure. Vaccination operations finally began in the middle of the afternoon in Goma (east).
“Mpox exists”
A few hours before the first vaccinations, in front of the largest hospital in the capital of the North Kivu province, local authorities supported by the WHO and NGOs were still busy setting up tents and deploying banners recalling barrier gestures with the message “The mpox exists”.
Around ten caregivers were the first to be immunized, journalists on site noted. “As a doctor, I am on the front line […] I want to protect myself,” explained Dr. Jeannine Muhavi, the first vaccinated.
The campaign must continue more widely from Monday, particularly in the neighboring province of South Kivu where the current epidemic appeared a year ago, according to health authorities.
A “total struggle”
In Goma on Saturday, the chief of staff of the Minister of Health Romain Muboyayi promised a “total fight” against “this preventable and curable disease”.
“The deployment of the vaccine marks an important step in limiting the spread of the virus,” welcomed Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa, quoted in a press release.
During a press conference on Friday, the Minister of Health Samuel-Roger Kamba, however, stressed that at this stage it is not a question of “mass vaccination” but of targeting populations at risk (caregivers, sex workers, homosexuals, etc.).
More than 30,000 cases since the start of the year
No precise date has been communicated for vaccination in Kinshasa. The crowded Congolese capital has been relatively spared from the epidemic but a recent rapid increase in cases, reported by the African Union health agency (Africa CDC), raises the specter of large-scale contamination.
Since the start of the year, the DRC has recorded more than 30,000 cases and nearly 990 deaths. According to the WHO, the country concentrates 90% of contaminations recorded in the world. Some 70% of deaths concern children under the age of five, according to health authorities. But vaccination is only aimed at 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 conducted for use in children under 17 years of age.
“It is not with 265,000 doses that we solve the problem”
Another vaccine, 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,” Samuel-Roger Kamba insisted on Friday, specifying that adults must normally receive two doses to be totally immunized.
The DRC must also receive 4,500 early diagnostic PCR tests. The WHO announced on Friday that it had given the green light to the test to detect the strain of the virus with swabs from skin lesions.
Several ongoing mpox outbreaks
Several mpox epidemics are underway in central Africa. The resurgence of cases and the appearance of a new variant in the DRC pushed the WHO to trigger its highest level of global alert in August.
Previously called monkeypox, mpox is a viral disease that spreads from animals to humans but is also transmitted between humans, causing fever, muscle pain and skin lesions.
The virus is currently present in 16 countries in Africa, according to the Africa CDC.
