Germany will donate 100,000 doses of the mpox vaccine from its military reserves to help address the outbreak in Africa, a government spokesperson announced on Monday. This donation is intended to provide immediate relief to the affected regions.
In addition to the vaccine donation, Germany will also offer financial support to the World Health Organization (WHO) through various channels to combat mpox and assist its African partners via the GAVI vaccine alliance, the spokesperson added.
Germany currently holds around 117,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine, acquired in 2022 and stored by the military. While a portion of this stock will be retained to protect officials traveling abroad, any decision on replenishing the reserves will be made separately, according to a defense ministry spokesperson.
The WHO has declared mpox a global public health emergency following an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) that has spread to neighboring countries. The emergence of a new strain, clade Ib, has raised concerns due to its rapid transmission.
Germany is working to expedite the delivery of vaccines to the most affected regions, primarily the DRC, Burundi, and other East African nations, a foreign ministry spokesperson noted.