The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has fixed October 8, 2024 as the beginning of Mpox vaccination in Nigeria, barring any last minute change of plans. The head of public relations unit, NPHCDA, Remi Adeleke, who spoke with Punch, explained that the vaccine deployment will begin from 3 to 6 October. Adeleke explained that this timeline is to allow the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to conclude regulatory “procedures of sampling, traceability and lab analysis.”He noted that due to the limited availability of the Jynneos MPox vaccine (9,980 doses), the quantities will be split evenly across five states, with 1,996 doses allocated to each state for implementation.He did not identify the states, adding that the states are being evaluated based on the current trend of cases in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).Mr Adeleke further explained that the vaccination drive aims to reach 4,750 individuals across the five states. Each person will receive two doses of the vaccine administered 28 days apart.The targeted groups include close contact of Mpox cases, healthcare workers, and individuals with low immune systems.On 27 August, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Richard Mills, handed over 10,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine donated by the US government to the NPHCDA’s Executive Director, Muyi Aina.Jynneos is a vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration for preventing smallpox and Mpox in adults aged 18 years and older at risk of Mpox infection.This made Nigeria the first African country to obtain vaccines to combat the spread of the new strain of Mpox virus.
