For the first time, the global vaccine alliance Gavi has tapped its newly created First Response Fund to purchase 500,000 mpox vaccines for delivery to virus-affected countries across Africa — a continent where doses have been critically scarce even as the outbreak has grown into a declared public health emergency.
At a glance
- First Response Fund: Gavi activated this emergency purchasing mechanism — established in June 2024 C.E. — for the first time, committing up to $50 million to secure the vaccine doses.
- Mpox outbreak scale: The Democratic Republic of the Congo alone has recorded more than 22,000 cases and 700 deaths from the new Clade 1b strain in 2024 C.E., with cases also reported in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and Kenya.
- Vaccine gap: Public health experts estimate 10 million doses are needed across Africa to meet demand — meaning this purchase covers just 5% of what is required.
Why the First Response Fund matters
Speed is often the difference between containment and catastrophe in an outbreak. Gavi’s First Response Fund was designed precisely for moments like this: a fast-moving mechanism that allows the alliance to act within days of a health emergency declaration rather than waiting for a full funding cycle.
The World Health Organization declared mpox a public health emergency of international concern in mid-August 2024 C.E. Gavi moved to access the fund shortly after that declaration. The purchase covers doses from manufacturer Bavarian Nordic, which praised the deal and said it would significantly increase vaccine availability on the continent.
“We are committed to working with affected governments and our partners to turn these vaccines into vaccinations as quickly and effectively as possible,” said Gavi’s chief executive, Dr. Sania Nishtar. She described the fund as taking the alliance “a long way towards our goal of protecting those most at risk.”
A milestone in a larger fight
Gavi’s purchase is a meaningful step — but it lands inside a much larger supply problem. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, which accounts for the vast majority of cases, had received only 100,000 vaccines before this deal despite carrying the heaviest burden of the outbreak. Neighboring countries have each reported smaller numbers of cases but face the same shortage.
The alliance has now said it will work to secure additional funding to build a global vaccine stockpile, contingent on sufficient contributions through 2030 C.E. That longer-term goal — a reserve that countries can draw on rapidly when outbreaks emerge — would represent a structural shift in how the world prepares for infectious disease in lower-income regions.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and other global health bodies have also been working to accelerate the research and procurement pipeline for mpox countermeasures.
The equity question that remains open
The purchase comes amid sharp criticism from global health advocates over the uneven distribution of existing doses. Médecins Sans Frontières and other campaigners have called for faster delivery and lower prices from manufacturers. Meanwhile, wealthy countries including the United States, Japan, and Canada have millions of doses stockpiled, with only a small fraction pledged to African nations.
The United Kingdom ordered 150,000 vaccines for its own domestic preparations against the new strain during the same period. The contrast in access has drawn sustained attention from public health advocates who argue that the global response still reflects deep structural inequities in how medical resources flow during emergencies.
Gavi’s move does not resolve that inequity — and the gap between 500,000 doses secured and 10 million needed is real and significant. But it marks the first practical use of an emergency financing tool that, if adequately funded and repeatedly deployed, could help close that gap faster the next time a pathogen spreads.
Gavi’s own documentation of the purchase outlines next steps for working with affected governments on distribution logistics — the hard work of turning purchased doses into administered vaccinations across fragile health systems.
Read more
For more on this story, see: The Guardian
For more from Good News for Humankind, see:
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- The Good News for Humankind archive on global health
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