Gavi Invests $50 Million to Purchase 500,000 Vaccine Doses, Pandemic Death Toll Exceeds 700, Global Health Emergency Alarm Sounds!

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (Gavi) announced on Wednesday that it will procure 500,000 doses of a new smallpox vaccine produced by Bavarian Nordic. The move marks the organization's first purchase of vaccines aimed at assisting a smallpox outbreak that is spreading in parts of Africa. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there were more than 25,000 suspected measles cases in Africa in 2024, resulting in 723 deaths, mainly in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As a result, the World Health Organization has declared the measles outbreak a global health emergency.

Gavi is an alliance of the public and private sectors to finance the procurement of vaccines in low-income countries. The alliance said it will invest up to $50 million in the vaccine purchase program, which will cover transportation, distribution and vaccine-related costs. These vaccines are expected to be delivered this year.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), although some 3.6 million doses of mpox vaccine have been pledged to the Democratic Republic of the Congo by wealthy countries with vaccine stocks, only a few have been delivered to date. The World Health Organization approved the vaccine for use on Friday.

The GAVI procurement, which takes advantage of new mechanisms established to respond to public health emergencies following the COVID-19 pandemic, will help speed up the response in Congo and other affected countries.

Imvanex, a vaccine produced by Bavarian Nordic, is used to prevent the Mpoxvirus at a vaccination center in Paris, France, July 27, 2022.

Also on Wednesday, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced that it would provide $9.5 million to support the Congolese government's emergency response, following a request from the Congolese government. Including epidemic surveillance, laboratory system construction and risk communication.

The exact price of the vaccine was not disclosed. However, Gavi's $50 million investment could mean a cost of less than $100 per dose, as the total already includes transportation and logistics costs. This figure is lower than previous estimates.

Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar stressed that the priority now is to work with partners to translate these vaccines into actual vaccination as quickly and efficiently as possible, and to gradually build a global vaccine stockpile.

Paul Chaplin, CEO of Bavarian Nordic, said the agreement will significantly improve access to measles vaccines in African countries. Last week, the company announced it would defer some of its existing orders until 2025 under a U.S. government contract in order to focus on meeting current market demand.

Measles is a disease that spreads through close contact and often causes flu-like symptoms and pus filled lesions. Despite being a public health problem in parts of Africa for decades, high-income countries helped contain the outbreak through vaccination after a different strain of the virus spread globally in 2022. However, affected countries in Africa have never before had access to a vaccine outside of clinical trials.