The manufacturer of the world’s only vaccine approved for monkeypox, Bavarian Nordic, closed its European vaccine production plant this spring and won’t reopen again until late 2022 – leading to a global monkeypox vaccine shortage, Health Policy Watch has learned. With only 16.4 million doses of the MVA-BN vaccine available worldwide, it is unclear how […] Continue reading ->
About 10% of people with Monkeypox require hospitalization and children are at the highest risk of severe disease, says WHO. Meanwhile, there are only about 1 million doses of the EMA and US FDA-approved MVA-BN vaccine readily available today across the globe – but that vaccine is also untested against monkeypox at large scale. The […] Continue reading ->
WHO’s Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, has asked the 53 countries in the WHO region to “act with urgency” in halting the Monkeypox emergency that has hit the region hardest  – noting that “vaccines alone won’t end the outbreak”.  Kluge’s statement Tuesday followed Saturday’s declaration by WHO of a global public health emergency over […] Continue reading ->
The question of whether pathogens’ genomic sequences should be shared freely – or in exchange for a clear benefit – as well as the role ‘One Health’ should play in any new Pandemic Convention or legal accord were key points of emerging dispute among member states on Day 2 of the Intergovernmental Board Meeting (INB).  […] Continue reading ->