By Ayomide Otitoju
Nigeria has taken delivery of its first batch of Mpox vaccines—11,200 doses donated by the United States and facilitated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. Gavi’s CEO, Dr. Sania Nishtar, confirmed the arrival of the vaccines in Abuja on Friday, marking a critical step in combating the Mpox outbreak across Africa.
The doses, manufactured by Bavarian Nordic, are part of the 899,000 vaccines allocated under the Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM), a global initiative led by the Africa CDC, WHO, CEPI, and UNICEF to address Mpox in affected countries.
“This donation significantly strengthens the global Mpox response,” Nishtar said. “In addition to the 500,000 doses Gavi procured in September, we now have frameworks in place to facilitate further rollouts.”
Nigeria’s share comes as part of a broader allocation of 305,000 doses committed by the US in September, with additional vaccines planned for the Democratic Republic of Congo (273,000) and Rwanda (19,600) in 2025.
The First Response Fund, established by Gavi to address pandemics like Mpox, will cover delivery costs. Dr. Nishtar emphasized the importance of international cooperation, adding that Gavi is in talks with the US for the allocation of the remaining 695,020 doses.
Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell echoed the sentiment, stating, “Viruses don’t respect borders. International and domestic Mpox coordination remains a top priority for ASPR.”
Since the outbreak began, Gavi has allocated nearly six million doses to affected nations, alongside emergency financial support of $2.7 million to the DRC and $1.5 million to Rwanda. These efforts aim to curb the spread of the virus and bolster vaccine accessibility across the continent.
