Kinshasa, Sep 14 (IANS): The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the "epicenter" of the ongoing Mpox outbreak in Africa, will launch its first phase of the vaccination campaign on October 2, the government has announced.

The vaccination effort, which runs until October 11, follows the receipt of over 265,000 doses from international partners, according to the minutes of the weekly Council of ministers meeting late Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The process of procuring 3,000 doses of vaccines for children is sufficiently advancing," the minutes said.

A report released Friday by the Congolese Ministry of Health revealed that the DRC has reported 21,813 suspected cases. This includes 716 deaths since the start of 2024. The country accounts for about 90 per cent of cases in Africa.

This comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the approval of the MVA-BN vaccine, developed by Bavarian Nordic, as the first Mpox vaccine to its prequalification list.

Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Bavarian Nordic or MVA-BN is indicated for active immunisation against smallpox, Mpox, and related orthopoxvirus infections and disease in all adults 18 years of age and older.

The vaccine can be administered as a 2-dose injection given 4 weeks apart.

“Available data shows that a single-dose MVA-BN vaccine given before exposure has an estimated 76 per cent effectiveness in protecting people against Mpox, with the 2-dose schedule achieving an estimated 82 per cent effectiveness,” the WHO said in a statement.

The ongoing Mpox outbreak in Africa was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO in mid-August. About 15 countries are battling the deadly infections -- Morocco has become the latest country.

The outbreak began with the emergence of the poorly understood but more dangerous clade 1b variant. It was first detected in the DRC in September 2023. This strain has since been reported in countries including Sweden and Thailand.