Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have begun vaccinating against mpox, nearly two months after an outbreak of the disease that spread to several countries was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization.
Some of the 265,000 vaccine doses donated to the Democratic Republic of Congo by the European Union and the United States were administered in the eastern city of Goma in North Kivu province, where hospitals and health workers are overburdened. , is struggling to contain the new mpox, which has the potential to be even more contagious.
In DRC, approximately 30,000 suspected smallpox cases and 859 deaths have been reported in Africa this year, accounting for more than 80% of all infections and 99% of deaths. All 26 provinces of the Central African country have recorded mpox cases.
Although most of the mpox infections and deaths recorded in the DRC are in children under 15, the doses being administered are only intended for adults and are being administered to those at risk and frontline workers. Health Minister Roger Kamba said this week.
“Strategies are being put in place by the military authorities to vaccinate all eligible people,” said the minister’s chief of staff, Mboyai Chikayar, at the start of the vaccination drive.
Kamba said at least 3 million doses of vaccines approved for use in children are expected to be imported from Japan in the coming days.
