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the day the world health organization (who) approved the first monkeypox vaccine, congo (drc) began deploying vaccinations. congo (drc) is the country most severely affected by the current monkeypox outbreak, with cases reported in 26 provinces across the country.

the world health organization recently announced that it has approved the emergency use authorization application for the monkeypox vaccine produced by bavarian nordic, a company headquartered in denmark. this is the first vaccine approved by the who to fight monkeypox epidemics.

since many international organizations only purchase and donate vaccines approved by who, the who's "nod" is crucial for african countries to fight the monkeypox epidemic.

who director-general tedros adhanom ghebreyesus said on september 13: "the monkeypox vaccine has passed prequalification for the first time. this is an important step in our fight against monkeypox, both for the current outbreak in africa and for future outbreaks."

however, in europe and the united states, this vaccine was approved in 2022, and there have been criticisms that who is slow to act. in response, yukiko nakatani, assistant director-general of the world health organization for access to medicines and health products, told china business network and other media that the epidemic strain of this round of monkeypox is different from the previous ones, and the vaccine storage conditions in europe and the united states and low- and middle-income countries are different. these are all things that who needs to consider when approving the monkeypox vaccine.

the who has declared a public health emergency of international concern (pheic) seven times, including the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. the two most recent times (in 2022 and 2024) the highest alert was issued because of monkeypox.