Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 31. With the spread of monkeypox epidemics in Europe and the United States, some countries have begun to purchase monkeypox vaccines in large quantities.
A repeat of the monkeypox epidemic, public health officials warned, would not only leave millions of Africans without a monkeypox vaccine, but could also increase the risk of monkeypox spreading to the general population.
Monkeypox was previously mainly endemic in West and Central Africa, but has recently spread in non-monkeypox-endemic countries.
According to the Associated Press, since May, nearly 80 countries and regions have reported more than 21,000 human cases of monkeypox infection (hereinafter referred to as monkeypox cases), of which about 75 suspected monkeypox deaths were located in Africa.
According to the Associated Press, the monkeypox virus circulating in Africa is more deadly.
Outside Africa, Brazil and Spain reported the first deaths linked to monkeypox on the 29th.
According to Bogma Titangi, assistant professor of pharmacy at Emory University in the United States, African countries have been dealing with monkeypox epidemics for decades, but they have "reduced to footnotes" when discussing global countermeasures.
After ordering millions of doses of monkeypox vaccine, some wealthy Western countries have not announced their intention to share the vaccine with Africa.
"The mistakes we've seen during the Covid-19 pandemic are repeating themselves," he said.
The Associated Press, citing multiple epidemiologists, reported that unlike the new crown epidemic, large-scale vaccinations are not required to deal with the monkeypox outbreak.
Targeted vaccination and other measures can curb the spread of monkeypox.
Currently, Danish drugmaker Bavaria Nordic can produce a monkeypox vaccine.
The company can produce about 30 million doses of the monkeypox vaccine this year, according to the Associated Press, and it has about 16 million in stock.
The United States is currently the country with the largest number of orders for monkeypox vaccine, with 13 million doses ordered from Bavaria Nordic, of which 1.4 million have been delivered.
Bavaria Nordic in May asked the U.S. to release some 215,000 doses of the monkeypox vaccine that were scheduled to be delivered "to assist the business in responding to international requests".
In this regard, the United States only agreed to delay the delivery time.
Ahmed Ogwell Omar, acting director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on the 28th that Africa has once again been left behind in monkeypox vaccine distribution.
He called for priority delivery of monkeypox vaccines to Africa.
"If we are not safe, the rest of the world will not be safe," he said.
Reuters reported, using the World Health Organization as a source, that 98 percent of existing monkeypox patients outside Africa are men who have sex with men.
Experts worry that if the monkeypox epidemic spreads to the general population, or "takes root" in non-traditional endemic areas, it will exacerbate the need for a monkeypox vaccine.
"The longer the monkeypox virus spreads, the more likely it is to spread to new animal hosts or to ordinary people," said Salmira Shetty, a vaccine consultant for the NGO Doctors Without Borders. "In that case, The demand for monkeypox vaccine will change substantially.” (Liu Xiuling)