Africa’s alone in monkeypox deaths but has no vaccine doses

By CARA ANNA
Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Africa’s public health agency says the continent still does not have a single dose of the monkeypox vaccine even though it’s the only continent to have documented deaths from the disease that’s newly declared a global emergency. The acting head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described a situation where the African continent of 1.3 billion people is again being left behind in access to doses in an uncomfortable echo of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Health Organization last week declared monkeypox a global health emergency. To date, more than 20,000 cases have been reported in 77 countries. More than 2,100 monkeypox cases have been recorded in 11 African countries and 75 people have died.