NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa’s public health agency says the continent of 1.3 billion people still does not have a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine, but…
The acting director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ahmed Ogwell, told journalists on Thursday that he could not give details, but he said the partners are “largely multilateral institutions and non-African governments.” There are no discussions with the private sector because all available doses have already been bought by countries, he said.
More monkeypox deaths have been reported on the African continent this year than anywhere in the world. Since May, nearly 90 countries have reported more than 31,000 cases.Article content The lack of vaccine doses and shortage of diagnostics is an echo of the challenges that Africa’s 54 countries faced for months during the COVID-19 pandemic as richer countries elsewhere raced to secure supplies.
The World Health Organization classified the escalating outbreak of the once-rare monkeypox disease as an international emergency in July; the U.S. declared it a national emergency last week.