🎬Long time coming

September 06, 2024

Good morning. Reminder to surreptitiously find out from your wife which jewelry piece she’s been window-shopping for or which of her tech gadgets could use an upgrade — Wife Appreciation Day is barely two weeks away.

— Chibuike Uzor.

HEALTH

DR Congo’s long wait for mpox vaccines finally comes to an end

Even a woman reaching the end of an episode of prolonged labor would experience much less relief than the Congolese Ministry of Health right now.

Twenty-five months after the first cases of mpox were detected and 3 weeks after the WHO declared the outbreak a global emergency, the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Thursday received its first shipment of 100,000 doses of the mpox vaccine.

What’s the situation here?

DR Congo is Africa's (and the world’s) worst-affected country with more than 19,000 suspected cases of mpox and more than 650 deaths recorded since the turn of the year. Sixty-two percent of those cases were reported in children. DRC has had 10 times as many cases reported per week as any other African country has been able to report in total since the start of the outbreak.

Despite all this, Congo has had to wait its turn as far less affected countries got the nod for a vaccine delivery before it did.

  • Nigeria, with only 42 confirmed cases so far received a donation of 10,000 doses a week ago.

  • South African drugmaker, Aspen sought a headstart by manufacturing the vaccines at its Johannesburg facility.

Many observers referred to the situation as “callous and unfair to the global South” with others calling out the vaccine’s maker, Bavaria Nordic on its outrageously high prices.

Interestingly, DR Congo does not plan on distributing its vaccines yet. According to Cris Kacita, head of Congo’s outbreak response, the vaccines may take a month before they are launched, with many suspecting that Congo’s rural population may not be as receptive to the technology. Analysts, however, worry that Congo may not be able to store the doses at the optimal temperature long enough before the campaign starts.

Zooming out: Amidst multiple calls to replicate the COVID-19 type response with the mpox outbreak, the Africa CDC says it is working on a unified response plan for the outbreaks which will be presented to African heads of state for consideration at a meeting later this month. Many believe it will involve funding Aspen’s manufacturing efforts.—CU

Tiktok influencer, Jools Lebron, author of the internet’s summer defining vocabulary, “Very mindful, very demure” is working overtime to trademark uses of her now-viral words. Despite other individuals with no known connection to Lebron equally trying to trademark the catchphrase, the influencer will be hoping to repeat the same success as Hailey Welch, better known as the “Hawk Tuah Girl” who now runs a podcast.

SNIPPETS

No cap. Germany and Great Britain agree to handle arrival of illegal migrants into Eastern Europe by deporting them to -and no, you won’t guess- Rwanda.

Proud moment. Nigerian attacker, Ademola Lookman becomes the only African nominated to the Ballon d’Or shortlist this year. He will hope to follow in the footsteps of George Weah who won the trophy in 1995.

Sandwiched? China calls out Eswatini for being absent at the 2024 China-Africa Summit, reportedly due to its strong alliance with Taiwan, saying “it should recognize the trend and make better decisions”.

Nigeria’s push for energy independence gets a boost as it commences petrol production locally for the first time in nearly three decades, courtesy of a $20 billion refinery owned by industrialist, Aliko Dangote.

Role model. Controversial boxer, Imane Khelif’s Olympic gold sparks boxing boom among Algerian girls.

Quite the first. Egypt hosts first-ever International Space and Aviation Exhibition on African soil. Turkey and the UAE will hope their fighter jet show catches more eyes of African Heads of State with lofty defense budgets.

Reply

or to participate.