Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has announced the arrival of 10,700 doses of the Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) Mpox vaccine to combat the ongoing outbreak in Kenya. These vaccines were secured through collaborative efforts involving the government, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance.

The Mpox vaccination will serve as an additional public health measure, complementing the comprehensive outbreak response strategies already in place. This initiative underscores Kenya’s commitment to controlling the Mpox outbreak and safeguarding public health.

In November 2024, the Access and Allocation Mechanism (AAM) for Mpox allocated an initial 899,000 vaccine doses to nine African countries, including Kenya, to address the surge in Mpox cases.

The phased vaccination strategy focuses on interrupting transmission by targeting individuals at the highest risk of infection, including contacts of confirmed cases, healthcare workers, frontline responders, and key at-risk populations in areas with active human-to-human transmission.