In a coordinated effort to prevent the catastrophic vaccine inequities that marred the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) officially launched the Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) on Monday to oversee the fair distribution of mpox therapeutics and vaccines across Africa.
The new framework brings together global health partners, including UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). It establishes a single transparent pipeline to ensure limited vaccine supplies are routed directly to frontline healthcare workers, household contacts, and high-risk populations in active transmission hot zones.
A Unified Shield Against a Fast-Spreading Health Crisis
The continental emergency has intensified sharply in 2024, with public health authorities recording more than 30,000 suspected and confirmed cases and over 800 fatalities across 15 African countries. The emergence of the more transmissible Clade 1b strain has heightened international alarm, leading WHO to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which accounts for nearly 90 percent of all reported infections and the vast majority of deaths, will be the primary beneficiary of the first tranches released under the AAM. Initial deliveries include the Bavarian Nordic MVA-BN vaccine donated by European nations and the United States.
“We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past where African countries were relegated to the back of the queue for life-saving countermeasures. This mechanism ensures equity is operationalized.”
Epidemiological Criteria and Deployment Logistics in Central Africa
International donors have committed more than 2.8 million doses to date, but health officials emphasize that successful eradication will require scaling up diagnostic capabilities, local community engagement, and complex cold-chain logistics in remote forested provinces.
Technical teams from the WHO and Africa CDC have already deployed to Kinshasa to support local cold-chain storage and conduct training for immunization teams ahead of countrywide mass vaccination campaigns set to commence within weeks.
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