WHO seeks mpox vaccine production surge

AFP| Geneva

The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com   

The World Health Organization on Friday urged manufacturers to ramp up production of mpox vaccines to rein in the spread of a more dangerous strain of the virus.

The WHO on Wednesday declared the mpox surge a public health emergency of international concern -- its highest alert level -- with Clade 1b cases soaring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and spreading beyond its borders.

“We do need the manufacturers to really scale up so that we’ve got access to many, many more vaccines,” WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters.

The WHO is asking countries with mpox vaccine stockpiles to donate them to countries with ongoing outbreaks.

Two mpox vaccines have been used in recent years -- MVA-BN, produced by Danish drugmaker Bavarian Nordic, and Japan’s LC16. Harris said there were 500,000 MVA-BN doses in stock, while an additional 2.4 million doses could be produced quickly, if there was a commitment from buyers.

For 2025, an additional 10 million doses could be produced, upon a firm procurement request. “LC16 is a vaccine that is not commercialised but produced on behalf of the government of Japan.

There is a considerable stockpile of this vaccine,” Harris added, saying the WHO was working with Tokyo to facilitate donations.