The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has launched a large-scale vaccination campaign against mpox (monkeypox) in the capital, Kinshasa.
This geographically targeted campaign, led by the Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with UNICEF, aims to vaccinate more than 600,000 people in the Congolese capital.
The objective is to “protect individuals in contact with confirmed cases and frontline workers in five priority health zones of Kinshasa,” UNICEF stated. These areas, which include densely populated neighbourhoods, schools, and enclosed settings such as prisons, are considered “at the heart of the epidemic’s spread” in the DRC’s capital.
Amid a “worrying surge in cases,” particularly among children and adolescents—who account for 47% of confirmed infections—the vaccine is administered in a single subcutaneous dose, including for children and pregnant women.
The campaign aims to “interrupt virus transmission by reaching 100% of contacts of reported cases while strengthening awareness and community engagement,” according to UNICEF.
Officially launched on February 22, the campaign will continue “until full coverage of the targeted population is achieved.” Thereafter, teams will be pre-positioned in the health zones to regularly vaccinate contacts of new cases.
To ensure its success, more than 579 teams have been mobilised, including over 3,400 vaccinators, 215 supervisors, as well as UNICEF consultants and staff.
Since 2024, the DRC has reported a total of 79,579 suspected mpox cases, including 1,549 deaths across 26 provinces, according to data recorded on February 16. Since January 2025 alone, 15,847 suspected cases have been reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) noted that the recent decline in cases in some areas is “due to the security situation in North Kivu and South Kivu,” where M23 rebels are engaged in fighting against the national army. However, an “upward trend in confirmed cases” has been witnessed in Kinshasa.
ODL/te/lb/as/APA