The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that its partner organizations, such as Gavi and UNICEF, can begin discussions to purchase mpox vaccines before they receive official WHO approval. This decision aims to expedite the distribution of vaccines in Africa, where the outbreak of the virus is worsening.
Typically, organizations like Gavi, which supports lower-income countries in acquiring vaccines, can only start purchasing them after receiving WHO approval. However, the rules have been relaxed for mpox vaccines to speed up the process, as WHO approval is expected within weeks.
Vaccines developed by Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic and Japan’s KM Biologics are already approved by regulators in countries like the United States and Japan and have been widely used for mpox since 2022. In the United States alone, approximately 1.2 million people have received the Bavarian Nordic vaccine.
The WHO is anticipated to issue an emergency license for these vaccines in September, further facilitating their distribution in affected regions.
