WHO: DRC to receive first mpox vaccines on Thursday

The first delivery of mpox vaccines is expected to to arrive in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, the head of the World Health Organization on Wednesday. “DRC's Ministry of Health's plan is to begin deploying the vaccines this weekend,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press conference in Geneva. The vaccines were donated by the European Commission's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). Tedros urged countries with stockpiles of the vaccines to help get doses where they are needed most. Prior to this, Africa had received just a tiny fraction of the vaccines needed to slow the spread of the virus, especially in the DRC, which has the most cases — more than 18,000 suspected cases and 629 deaths as of August 30. Earlier this month, the WHO declared the ongoing mpox outbreaks in Africa a global emergency. (AP)