The World Health Organization has issued a call to action on Friday, encouraging manufacturers to increase production of mpox vaccines in response to the growing spread of a more virulent strain of the virus.
This urgent request comes after the WHO declared the recent surge in mpox cases a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, its highest level of alert, on Wednesday.
The declaration was prompted by a significant rise in cases of the Clade 1b variant in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has also begun to spread to other countries
“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.
In recent years, two vaccines have been utilized to combat mpox: MVA-BN, manufactured by Bavarian Nordic, a Danish pharmaceutical company, and LC16, produced in Japan.
According to reports, there are currently 500,000 doses of MVA-BN in stock, with the potential for an additional 2.4 million doses to be produced rapidly if buyers commit to purchasing them.
If a firm procurement request is made, an extra 10 million doses could be manufactured for 2025, significantly boosting the global supply of mpox vaccines.
The humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders is calling on countries with mpox vaccine stockpiles, but no current outbreaks, to donate as many doses as possible to African nations struggling with the virus.
The charity also urged Bavarian Nordic, the manufacturer of the MVA-BN vaccine, to reduce its prices, citing that the current cost makes the vaccine inaccessible to most at-risk countries.
Meanwhile, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the world’s largest humanitarian network, highlighted the significant challenges it faces in combating the mpox outbreak, emphasizing the need for increased support and resources.
The WHO, headed by Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, is due to issue temporary recommendations to countries on handling the mpox surge.
The mpox virus has two distinct subtypes: Clade 1, which is more virulent and deadly, and primarily found in the Congo Basin in central Africa, and Clade 2, which is endemic in West Africa.
According to Tedros, the recent surge in cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is attributed to two separate outbreaks of Clade 1 strains.
The first outbreak, occurring in the northwest region, is a reemergence of the previously known Clade 1, now referred to as Clade 1a, and is mainly affecting children with multiple transmission modes.
The second outbreak, located in the northeastern region, is a new variant of Clade 1, dubbed Clade 1b, which was first identified in September last year and is spreading rapidly, primarily through sexual transmission among adults.
The WHO raised its highest alert level primarily due to the rapid spread of Clade 1b and its emergence in countries neighboring the Democratic Republic of Congo, indicating a potential regional and global health threat.
“It’s a complex picture, and responding to each of these outbreaks, and bringing them under control, will require a complex, comprehensive and coordinated international response,” said Tedros.
