WHO calls for expansion of Mpox vaccine production
Published: Saturday, Aug 17th 2024, 04:50
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The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for an increase in the production of vaccines against the Mpox virus. Countries that have vaccine stocks should also give them to countries affected by the outbreak.
Manufacturers "really need to ramp up production so that we have access to many, many more vaccines," WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said on Friday.
There are already effective vaccines against Mpox. Harris said that the Danish-German vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic has a stock of 500,000 doses of its MVA-BN vaccine, which is marketed under the name Imvanex. A further 2.4 million doses could be produced quickly if orders are placed.
In exchange with Japan
The LC16 vaccine is also produced in Japan, but it is not sold commercially and is only manufactured on behalf of the Japanese government. "There is a significant stockpile of this vaccine," Harris added. The WHO is already in contact with the Japanese government to facilitate the distribution of vaccine doses.
Doctors Without Borders also called on countries with vaccine stocks to donate "as many doses as possible" to the affected countries in Africa. The aid organization also called on Bavarian Nordic to lower its prices. The MVA-BN vaccine is unaffordable for most countries affected by the epidemic.
Highest alert level
The WHO had declared the highest alert level on Wednesday due to the spread of the new Mpox variant 1b in several African countries. The risk of infection in Switzerland is very low, according to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) in response to an inquiry from the Keystone-SDA news agency. The majority of people at risk in Switzerland have been vaccinated.
Known for decades as monkeypox, the disease can be transmitted from animals, but also from person to person in close contact, for example during sex. Symptoms include smallpox-like pustules on the skin, fever and aching limbs.
©Keystone/SDA
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