According to the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, October 8, 2024, is the estimated date that mpox vaccinations will start.
Additionally, the vaccine deployment will start on October 3 and last until October 6, 2024, according to Remi Adeleke, Head of the Public Relations Unit at the NPHCDA, who exclusively revealed this to our correspondent on Friday.
According to Adeleke, the current chronogram indicates that the vaccine deployment date is October 3–6, 2024. This corresponds with the three–6 week timeframe that starts on August 27 and ends on August 27 for NAFDAC to complete the regulatory requirements pertaining to lab analysis, traceability, and sampling.
The tentative implementation date for the Jynneos MPox vaccine is October 8, 2024. Due to limited available doses, 1,996 doses will be distributed across five states. The target population is 4,750 persons, who will receive two doses each, 28 days apart. The target population includes close contact of Mpox cases, health workers, and those with low immune status. The specific states for implementation are being evaluated in collaboration with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The PRU chief described the deployment approach as identifying two immunization sites in each state.
Fixed posts and special teams, as well as special teams to target communities for vaccinations against specified risk groups or close connections as necessary, are located within designated infectious disease referral centers.
“There will be two immunization locations chosen for each state. According to the current plan, only clients who are 18 years of age or older would receive the vaccinations, he said.
He continued by saying that the service delivery team is still deciding how many more doses of the Mpox vaccine to be given so that the nation can take advantage of the stock that the Africa CDC had intended to donate.
The US government has donated 10,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine to Nigeria, which is approved by the FDA for preventing smallpox and mpox in adults aged 18 and older. Mpox is a rare viral zoonotic infectious disease primarily found in remote Central and West Africa, primarily near tropical rainforests. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention declared Mpox a public health emergency of continental security on August 13, 2024, under its mandate to address significant public health threats.
With regard to Mpox, Nigeria has recorded 48 confirmed cases out of 868 suspected cases across 35 local government areas in 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory, according to data obtained from the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
