EU Donates 215,000 Mpox Vaccine Doses to Africa Amid Health Crisis

The European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) has secured 215,000 doses of the MVA-BN® vaccine from Bavarian Nordic to support the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) in combating the ongoing mpox outbreak in Africa. This vaccine is the only one approved by both the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for mpox. Bavarian Nordic will donate an additional 40,000 doses to HERA, which will be distributed by Africa CDC according to regional needs.

To further support the response, HERA is working with Africa CDC to enhance access to mpox diagnostics and sequencing capabilities with a €3.5 million grant expected by early autumn. Currently, only two African countries have granted Emergency Use Authorization for the MVA-BN® vaccine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has requested an Expression of Interest for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of the vaccine, which could facilitate its use in other African countries lacking national regulatory approvals. This coordinated effort underscores the severity of the mpox crisis and the necessity for comprehensive public health measures across the continent.