On September 18, 2024, just over 30 days since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the latest mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, Gavi, the organization I lead, concluded a transaction with the vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to procure 500,000 doses of mpox vaccines. This advance purchase agreement, which will see doses delivered by the end of this year, marks an important milestone in the international mpox response. It also serves as tangible evidence that the global health community has acted on what it learned from the COVID-19 pandemic about the importance of rapid access to vaccine financing during the early stages of a health emergency. Coming three working days after the WHO added Bavarian Nordic's MVA-BN vaccine to its prequalification list, this week's agreement represents the single largest contribution of vaccines to the response to date. On top of the 265,000 doses that have so far been donated and delivered to the Democratic...
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