A man receives treatment for monkeypox in DR Congo. WHO approves first monkeypox vaccine Health
The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the use of a vaccine against monkeypox for the first time. This will help expand access to preventive measures for millions of people in Africa, where about 20,000 people have already been infected with the disease.
Danish pharmaceutical company Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN vaccine, which was prequalified by the WHO on Friday, has already been approved for use in adults in Europe and the United States. WHO approval will speed up access to the vaccine for millions of people, which should help contain the outbreak.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the prequalification of the vaccine was an important step in efforts to combat monkeypox.
“We now urgently need to scale up procurement, donation and deployment to ensure equitable access to vaccines where they are needed most,” he said.
Vaccine use
Adults given two doses of MVA-BN four weeks apart are 82 percent effective. When vaccine availability is limited, WHO recommends using a single dose, which is 76 percent effective.
For infants, young children, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, the vaccine can be used in situations where the benefits of immunization outweigh the potential risks.
Prequalification of the vaccine will help speed up procurement by governments and international agencies such as the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), WHO said. This could also help the process of obtaining appropriate approvals in countries around the world.
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