UNICEF issues emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines

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Aug 31 (Reuters) - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has issued an emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries in collaboration with the Gavi vaccine alliance, Africa CDC and the World Health Organization, the organizations said in a joint statement on Saturday.

Depending on the production capacity of manufacturers, agreements for up to 12 million doses through 2025 can be made, according to the statement.

Under the tender, UNICEF will set up conditional supply agreements with vaccine manufacturers, the statement said.

This will enable UNICEF to purchase and ship vaccines without delay, once financing, demand, readiness and regulatory requirements are confirmed.

The collaboration - which would also include working with the Vaccine Alliance and the Pan American Health Organization as well as with Gavi, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO - would facilitate donations of vaccines from existing stockpiles in high-income countries.

The statement added that WHO is reviewing information submitted by manufacturers on Aug. 23, and expects to complete a review for an emergency use listing by mid-September.

The agency is reviewing applications for emergency licences for two vaccines made by Bavarian Nordic and Japan's KM Biologics.

Earlier in August, the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that spread to neighbouring countries.

More than 18,000 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in Congo so far this year with 629 deaths, while over 150 cases have been confirmed in Burundi, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Sweden and Thailand have confirmed cases of the clade Ib type of the virus, outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries. (Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis)