Nigeria to start mpox vaccination on October 8

Nigeria to start mpox vaccination on October 8

By Isaac Anyaogu

Nigeria will begin vaccinations for mpox from October 8 after regulatory approvals are concluded, a spokesperson for the country's National Primary Health Care Development Agency told a local newspaper on Saturday.

Nigeria received the first batch of 10,000 doses of the mpox vaccine from the U.S. Agency for International Development on Tuesday. The country has confirmed 40 mpox cases with no fatalities yet.

“Due to limited available doses (9,980) of the Jynneos MPox vaccine, the quantities will be split evenly (1,996 doses) across the five states for implementation," Remi Adeleke, a spokesperson at the development agency told The Punch newspaper.

He said the vaccines would be subjected to regulatory lab analysis for three weeks after which they would be distributed across five states with 4,750 persons receiving two doses each, 28 days apart.

Adeleke said the target population for the vaccinations were those in close contact with Mpox cases, health workers and persons with low immune status.