South Africa: Donated Mpox Vaccine Stock Will Be Deployed As Needed, Says Health Dept As Cases Climb to 26
[spotlight] Twenty of this year's 26 confirmed mpox cases came after August, concentrated mostly within the Western Cape. Spotlight looks at how the virus has changed and how much of the donated vaccine is left.
South Africa's Department of Health has announced that donated mpox vaccine stock will be deployed as needed, following a rise in confirmed cases. Of the 26 cases reported this year, 18 are concentrated in the Western Cape, while three are in Gauteng and two each in the Eastern Cape, Free State, and KwaZulu-Natal. The majority of the cases have been detected since August, with only one case in a woman and the rest in men aged between 23 and 50. No deaths have been reported so far.
Mpox, a viral illness that has caused outbreaks worldwide, has been detected in South Africa for the first time since 2022. Since then, there have been 71 confirmed cases, with only three deaths. The virus was first identified in humans in 1970 and is most commonly found in central, east, and west Africa. The World Health Organization has recorded over 190,000 laboratory-confirmed cases and over 536 deaths globally since 2022, with 140 countries reporting mpox cases.
The remaining donated mpox vaccines, known as MVA-BN (imvanex and JYNNEOS), are currently available in South Africa. Health officials have administered 2,365 doses since September 2025 and have 3,865 doses still available, which will expire on August 31, 2027. The department is reviewing options for procuring additional vaccine doses, depending on recommendations from the Incident Management Team and the National Advisory Group on Immunisation.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
