The vaccine will be administered first to healthcare workers and people with pre-existing health conditions.
The Democratic Republic of Congo has launched its first vaccination campaign in Goma, the eastern city hardest hit by the Mpox outbreak.
The vaccine was first administered to hospital staff last Saturday, with wider vaccinations due to begin on Monday in the eastern part of the country, where the current outbreak began last year.
On Friday, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s public health ministry warned that the vaccine campaign would be limited due to lack of resources. Only 265,000 doses are available so far.
“As you can imagine, 265,000 doses are not going to solve the problem in a country of 100 million people,” Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said at a press conference on Friday.
He added that the campaign aims to target priority groups, including people with pre-existing health conditions and healthcare workers.
More vaccines are expected to arrive from France, Japan and the United States.
Last month, US President Joe Biden said Washington planned to donate 1 million doses of the M-Fox vaccine to African countries.
“This vaccine rollout is an important step to limit the spread of the virus and ensure the safety of families and communities,” Masidiso Moeti, World Health Organization (WHO) Africa director, said in a statement.
Since the beginning of 2024, more than 30,000 suspected and confirmed cases of Mpox have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 900 deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The virus can spread through close contact with infected people or animals. Once infected, the virus typically causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions in the body.
Last August, WHO declared mpox a public health emergency after discovering a new infectious variant called clade Ib.
According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, M-pox has been discovered in 16 African countries so far this year.
Last Friday, WHO announced that it had approved a PCR test that detects Mpox by swabbing skin lesions.
Kamba said WHO had promised about 4,500 tests for DRC but did not provide an arrival date.
