Germany To Donate 100 Thousand Doses Of Vaccine To Fight Monkeypox Outbreak In Africa

Illustration of the smallpox vaccine. (Wikimedia Commons/CDC/James Gathany)

JAKARTA - The German government on Monday announced plans to donate about 100,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine to control the outbreak in Africa.

It said the aid would be delivered to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and other countries on the continent. It will spend about 118,000 doses of German military vaccine reserves.

Berlin will also provide financial support for this effort, by providing funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) and supporting partners in Africa through the Gavi Vaccine Alliance.

Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Berlin's goal was, "to support solidarity in international efforts to tackle chickenpox in Africa," as reported by DW Aug. 27.

Hebestreit, who noted this, is a short-term step, added Berlin will also work closely with the African Union (AU) to encourage local vaccine production.

Germany is known to have a Jynneos vaccine obtained in 2022. They will keep the stock in minimum, to protect traveling authorities, for example, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Monday, while separate decisions need to be made regarding vaccine reordering.

The WHO declared thempox a global public health emergency after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighboring countries and a new form of the virus, the Ib clause, sparking concerns about the speed of transmission.