00:00The World Health Organization on Friday said it had cleared the mPox vaccine,
00:06produced by Denmark-based biotech company Bavarian Nordic,
00:11for use to contain the spread of the disease in badly hit African countries.
00:16The vaccine is the first that has been approved by the WHO. The approval,
00:21known as a pre-qualification, comes after a new type of the virus spreads from the
00:26Democratic Republic of Congo to several neighbouring countries.
00:30WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the first pre-qualification
00:37of the vaccine is an important step in its fight against the disease.
00:42He said they now need urgent scale-up in procurement,
00:45donations and roll-out to ensure equitable access to the vaccines,
00:50alongside other public health tools to prevent infections and stop the transmission.
00:56The pre-qualification paves the way for developing countries to access the vaccine,
01:01as most of them do not have the resources to examine the efficacy of vaccines.
01:06United Nations agencies also rely on the process before buying medical products.
01:12The vaccine, known as JYNNEOS in the United States, was originally approved as a smallpox shot.
01:19Some of the vaccine have been donated by the European Union to Congo,
01:23where the first round of inoculation is due to begin in early October.
Comments