The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has launched an emergency tender to procure mpox vaccine for crisis-affected countries.
UNICEF has issued an urgent tender for the purchase of mpox vaccine in co-operation with the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Africa and the World Health Organisation, the organisations said in the joint statement. It will facilitate the donation of vaccines from existing stocks in high-income countries to countries in need.
In a tender process, UNICEF will conclude conditional supply agreements with vaccine manufacturers, the statement said. Depending on the manufacturers’ production capacity, agreements are possible for the supply of up to 12 million doses until 2025. The agreement would enable UNICEF to procure and ship vaccines without delay once funding, demand, readiness and regulatory requirements become confirmed.
WHO is looking at the information submitted by manufacturers on 23 August and expects to complete consideration for inclusion on the emergency use list by mid-September. In addition, vaccines produced by Bavarian Nordic and Japan’s KM Biologics are also among those whose licences the agency is considering.
In August, WHO declared mpox an international public health emergency after a viral outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighbouring countries. More than 18,000 suspected mpox cases have been reported in Congo this year, of which 629 have been fatal, and more than 150 cases have been confirmed in Burundi, according to the WHO director general. Sweden and Thailand confirmed cases of type Ib virus outside the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring countries.
