African continent receives first monkey pox vaccines

Africa’s top public health body says the continent is set to receive its first batch of monkey pox vaccines as a donation from South Korea.

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said, the 50,000 doses will be used first for health workers and people living in the hardest-hit areas. No timing was given for the doses’ arrival.

The continent this year has recorded 202 deaths from monkey pox, formerly known as monkey pox with a fatality rate of 19.3% across 13 countries, yet African health authorities for months have pursued vaccines mostly in vain as major outbreaks were reported in rich, Western countries for the first time.

Acting CDC director Ahmed Ogwell said, “51 new monkey pox cases in Congo in the past week and said Ghana and Nigeria are the other most affected countries”.

africanews