It's begun: the effort to get novel vaccines into Africans

This information is from the Aug 13 and 14 briefings on monkeypox in Africa, mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The next post will be a slide deck looking more closely into the claims.

Notes from Tedros’ press briefing on August 14:

• WHO is working with the governments of the affected countries, the Africa CDC, NGOs, civil society and other partners to understand and address the drivers of these outbreaks.

• WHO has developed a regional response plan, requiring an initial US$ 15 million to support surveillance, preparedness and response activities.

• To fund that response we have released US$ 1.45 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies, and we plan to release more in the coming days. We are also appealing to donors to fund the rest of the response plan.

• As you know, two vaccines for mpox are recommended by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, and are also approved by WHO-listed national regulatory authorities, as well as by individual countries including Nigeria and the DRC.

• Last week I triggered the process for Emergency Use Listing for mpox vaccines, which will accelerate vaccine access for lower-income countries which have not yet issued their own national regulatory approval. 

• Emergency Use Listing also enables partners including Gavi and UNICEF to procure vaccines for distribution.

• WHO is grateful to Member States and vaccine manufacturers for working with us on vaccine donations.

Africa public health body declares mpox emergency

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/africa-cdc-declares-mpox-public-health-emergency-continental-security-director-2024-08-13/

August 14, 202410:36 AM EDT Updated 2 hours ago

Aug 13 (Reuters) - Africa's top public health body declared what it termed a "public health emergency of continental security" on Tuesday over an outbreak of mpox that has spread from the Democratic Republic of Congo to neighbouring countries.

[The former head of this agency is John Nkengasong, who now works for the US State Dept. as the lead on Global Health Security with title of Ambassador. The current head of the Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya has been investigated for corruption. It’s safe to say the agency does what its funders and string-pullers tell it to do.]

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) had warned last week of an alarming rate of spread of the viral infection, which is transmitted through close contact and causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions.

Most cases are mild but it can kill.

"We declare today this public health emergency of continental security to mobilize our institutions, our collective will, and our resources to act swiftly and decisively," Director General Jean Kaseya said in a briefing that was live-streamed on Zoom.

The outbreak in Congo began with the spread of an endemic strain, known as Clade I. But the new variant, known as Clade Ib, appears to spread more easily through routine close contact, particularly among children.

Kaseya said in the briefing that the continent needs more than 10 million doses of the vaccine, but only about 200,000 are available. He promised that Africa CDC would work to quickly increase the supply to the continent.

"We have a clear plan to secure more than 10 million doses in Africa, starting with 3 million doses in 2024," he added, without saying where the vaccines would be sourced.

Christian Musema, a laboratory nurse, takes a sample from a child declared a suspected case Mpox - an infectious disease caused by the monkeypox virus that spark-off a painful rash, enlarged lymph nodes and fever; at the the treatment centre in Munigi, following Mpox cases in Nyiragongo territory near Goma, North Kivu province,... Purchase Licensing Rights

The health body said that more than 15,000 mpox cases and 461 deaths were reported on the continent this year so far, representing a 160% increase from the same period last year. A total of 18 countries have reported cases.

Mpox has been endemic in parts of Africa for decades after it was first detected in humans in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1970.

A milder version of the virus spread to more than a hundred countries in 2022, largely through sexual contact, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a public health emergency of international concern, its highest level of alert.

The WHO ended the emergency 10 months later, saying the health crisis had come under control.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a second health alert last week to notify clinicians and health departments about the deadly new strain.

Also last week, Africa CDC said it had been granted $10.4 million in emergency funding from the Africa Union for its mpox response.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has promised to convene an emergency committee to discuss whether the outbreak in Congo represents a public health emergency of international concern.

Reporting by Jessica Donati; Editing by Alex Richardson and David Holmes

The Africa CDC was established in 2017. Here are its goals, clearly aligned with the biosecurity agenda. Clearly the main African killers, Tuberculosis and Malaria, are not a big concern.

Objectives https://africacdc.org/about-us/

• Establish early warning and response surveillance platforms to address all health threats and health emergencies and natural disasters in a timely and effective manner.

• Assist Member States to address gaps in capabilities required for compliance with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). 

• Support and/or conduct regional- and country-level hazard mapping and risk assessments for Member States.

• Support Member States in health emergency responses, particularly those which have been declared a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). 

• Support health promotion and disease prevention through health systems strengthening, by addressing infectious and non-communicable diseases, environmental health and NTDs.

• Promote partnership and collaboration among Member States to address emerging and endemic diseases and public health emergencies.

• Harmonize disease control and prevention policies and the surveillance systems in Member States.

• Support Member States in public health capacity-building through medium- and long-term field epidemiological and laboratory training programmes. 

Here are some of the Africa CDC partners, which is the same overlapping, networked crew we always see carrying out the Great Reset Agenda. Mastercard, the World Bank and so many others are there too.

In 2022, the CDC said this disease required no treatment. Aspirin or tylenol if desired. But “this clade is worse.” Show me the genome. Tell me the cause of death: which organ failed? No proof has been forthcoming, just assertions that after 6 months with a stable number of reported cases (about 800/month worldwide for the first six months of 2024) the disease went mad and started killing people. Proof please.