Mpox Vaccines Are Pricey. That’s Not The Only Obstacle

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In a rapidly evolving disease outbreak, getting shots in arms may seem like an obvious way to contain the problem. It’s often just not that easy.

The track record of rolling out vaccines quickly in Africa has been poor. That’s partly because it’s difficult to reach remote areas and convince people that it’s a good idea to get a jab can take some explaining. And largely, buying them is costly.

Global vaccine programs have left African nations behind more than once.

Jean Kaseya, the head of Africa’s main health-advisory body, was blunt this week when he declared a fast-spreading mpox outbreak a continent-wide public health emergency. The World Health Organization followed up with a global alert.

A new mutated strain has spread across at least half a dozen countries because the region didn’t get appropriate support during the global outbreak of a milder version in 2022, Kaseya said.

While Africa is the only continent where mpox is endemic, it didn’t get shots then — and now needs about $4 billion to fight the disease. At about $100 per dose, according to Kaseya, most countries can’t afford them.

There is still hope to halt the outbreak and the will isn’t lacking.

Nations including the US and in Europe have stockpiles and Bavarian Nordic, one of the few companies with an approved vaccine, says it will be able to meet the continent’s needs.

There are obstacles, though.

The experience of the coronavirus enforced the importance of a detailed plan to roll out immunizations, and there needs to be a formal request (you can’t just flood a sovereign nation with medicines).

Donations will be the fastest way to get shots to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country whose size exceeds Western Europe and is the center of a surge in cases of the disease that causes lesions and has killed more than 550 people. Yet, while Congo has urged the international community to help, it hasn’t formally asked or come up how it will get the vaccines to hotspots.

“For several weeks, we have been waiting for an official request from the DRC government, and the United States government is also waiting for an official request,” says Sania Nishtar, chief executive officer of Gavi, the global vaccine alliance.

The longer it takes, the greater the chances of another truly global crisis.

News Roundup
The mayor of Johannesburg quit after months of political infighting and as South Africa’s biggest city struggles to balance its budget. Kabelo Gwamanda’s resignation will be effective once a new mayor is elected later on Friday. The financial hub that’s had eight mayors since 2019 due to constantly shifting coalitions. Billed as Africa’s richest, the city needs more than $12 billion to catch up on maintenance and overdue upgrades across collapsing road, power and water networks. Separately, Floyd Shivambu, the deputy leader of the radical Economic Freedom Fighters, quit the party to join South African ex-President Jacob Zuma’s fledgling group.

The worst may be over for Ghana’s battered cedi, with analysts expecting it to only weaken modestly between now and December elections following steep falls this year. The currency has been hurt by a poor cocoa crop, which provides the West African nation with a vital source of foreign-exchange earnings, as well as investor concerns during prolonged debt-restructuring talks.

Almost 500 million children will experience double the number of extremely hot days (temperature exceeding 35C) than their grandparents’ generation, threatening their health, according to the United Nations. More than half of the children in 100 countries are seeing twice as many heat waves today compared with six decades ago, it said. Those in west and central Africa face the highest exposure to extremely hot weather and the most significant increase over time.

East Africa’s biggest company by market value may take longer to break even in Ethiopia after the Horn of Africa nation allowed its currency to trade freely for the first time in five decades, causing it to plunge. The birr has depreciated more than 44% against the dollar since the end of July, which will inflate debt-servicing costs for Safaricom’s local unit. It will also raise local-currency expenses such as leases. Read our explainer on why Ethiopia ended its currency controls.

The absence of Sudan’s military from US-brokered talks that started on Wednesday in Switzerland is casting a pall on already-fraught efforts to end the North African nation’s ruinous civil war. The discussions for now only include the Rapid Support Forces militia as well as regional and international players. The Sudanese army is shunning the gathering because they’re irked that representatives from the United Arab Emirates are present, sources say.

Kenya’s sale of infrastructure bonds attracted strong demand in a key test of investors’ appetite after a wave of anti-government protests led authorities to scrap a crucial tax-raising plan. The sale came shortly after Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings cut the East African nation’s credit score deeper into junk in response to authorities’ decision to abandon the new levies after protests killed scores of people across the country. Meanwhile, workers plan to start a seven-day strike at Kenyan airports on Monday.

Next Africa Quiz — Which nation is hosting talks between Ethiopia and Somalia to help resolve a dispute over a proposed port in breakaway region Somaliland? Send your answers to gbell16@bloomberg.net .

Past & Prologue
Data Watch

Nigeria’s annual inflation decelerated for the first time in almost two years, measuring 33.4% in July.
Botswana plans to reduce spending on new vehicles and travel for government officials and may delay some capital projects to deal with a slump in diamond revenue.
The driest July in 120 years of records for Mauritius is jeopardizing sugar production that accounts for 10% of the Indian Ocean island nation’s exports.
South Africa’s rand is on a winning run not seen in 13 years.
Coming Up

Aug. 18 Egypt trade balance for June
Aug. 19 Kenya money-supply data for June, Morocco inflation for July, MTN earnings
Aug. 20 South Africa central bank’s leading economic indicator
Aug. 21 Rwanda interest-rate decision, South Africa inflation for July, Ghana producer inflation for July
Aug. 22 Botswana interest-rate decision
Aug. 23 S&P Global updates Kenya credit rating assessment, Gold Fields earnings
Quote of the Week
“It’s not going to be smooth sailing all the way, nor should it be. I hope we don’t have a bad marriage, but a good marriage also has some clear differences from time to time.”
Helen Zille, Democratic Alliance chairperson.
Zille was commenting in an interview with Bloomberg on the decision by South Africa’s second-biggest political party to join a coalition government with the African National Congress.
Last Word
Late last year, residents of Yeoville and Bellevue — crumbling inner-city areas of Johannesburg — went without power for four weeks after a 63-year-old cable broke. And yet, on July 1, electricity costs for some of South Africa’s poorest people, including those in the two suburbs, went up as much as 60%. Power prices have roughly tripled in the country over the past 14 years, which along with increased outages has prompted many rich households and businesses to spend thousands of dollars on clean-energy solutions. That’s widened the gulf between the rich and poor, with the wealthy relying on solar panels and batteries, and those less fortunate left at the mercy of rising prices and new fees from utilities.

 

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/