Ruth Semilore
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) has said the tentative date to commence vaccination for mpox is 8 October 2024.
The Head of the Public Relations Unit at the NPHCDA, Remi Adeleke, who disclosed this exclusively to The PUNCH on Friday, also stated that the vaccine deployment will begin from 3 to 6 October 2024.
Adeleke said,
“The date for vaccine deployment based on the current chronogram is from 3 to 6 October 2024, time to align with the three to six weeks period from vaccine receipt on 27 August for NAFDAC to conclude the regulatory procedures of sampling, traceability and lab analysis.
“The tentative implementation date is 8 October 2024.
“Due to limited available doses (9,980) of the Jynneos MPox vaccine, the quantities will be slit evenly (1,996 doses) across the five states for implementation. Specific states for implementation are being evaluated based on the current trend of cases in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention”.
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Adeleke added that the total population targeted in the five states is 4,750 persons, who will receive two doses each, 28 days apart.
He clarified that the target population is “Close contact of Mpox cases, health workers, and persons with low immune status”.
On the strategy to deploy, the head of the PRU said two sites per state are to be identified for vaccination.
“Fixed posts and special teams, fixed posts at sites within identified infectious diseases referral centres, and special teams to target communities where necessary for close contacts or identified risk groups vaccination.
“Two sites per state to be identified for vaccination. Only clients aged 18 and above will receive the vaccines based on the current strategy”, he said.
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He added that additional doses of the Mpox vaccine to be received are still being determined by the service delivery team so that the country can benefit from the available stock from the Africa CDC planned donation.
On Tuesday, the government of the United States of America donated 10,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine to Nigeria.
Jynneos is a vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the prevention of smallpox and mpox in adults aged 18 years and older who are at risk of mpox infection.
Mpox is a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease (i.e. an infection transmitted from animals to humans) that occurs sporadically, primarily in remote villages of Central and West Africa, near tropical rainforests. It is caused by the Mpox virus, which belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.
On 13 August 2024, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared Mpox a public health emergency of continental security, acting under its mandate to address significant public health threats.
Data obtained from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention showed that Nigeria had recorded a total of 48 confirmed cases of Mpox out of 868 suspected cases across 35 local government areas in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
