Nigeria has received 10,000 doses of the mpox vaccine from the US Agency for International Development (USAID), marking the first batch of vaccines to arrive in the country. Nigeria has reported 40 confirmed cases of mpox with no fatalities so far.
Muyi Aina, Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), called the donation a “critical step” for Nigeria, acknowledging the limited global supply of the vaccine. The Nigerian government has decided to prioritize five states—Bayelsa, Edo, Cross-River, and Lagos—for the distribution of the vaccines, according to USAID.
The NPHCDA has not yet specified when the vaccines will be distributed or who will be prioritized for treatment. U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills encouraged Nigeria to continue mobilising domestic resources to secure more vaccines to combat mpox.
