“The first batch of mpox vaccine has arrived in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s capital, the country’s authorities said.

It comes three weeks after the World Health Organisation (Who) declared mpox outbreaks in 12 African countries a global emergency.

The 100,000 doses of the MVA-BN vaccine, manufactured by the Danish company Bavarian Nordic, have been donated by the European Union through Hera, the bloc’s agency for health emergencies.

Another 100,000 are expected to be delivered on Saturday.”

From Irish Examiner.

“The World Health Organization (WHO) says polio vaccinations of children in central Gaza have ‘surpassed the target’ in the first two days of its immunisation campaign.

Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the UN agency’s representative in the Palestinian territories, said 161,030 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated on Sunday and Monday – above the projection of 156,500.

The difference was probably the result of an underestimate of the population crowded into the area, he explained.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a series of localised pauses in the fighting to allow health workers to administer vaccines after Gaza’s first confirmed case of polio in 25 years left a 10-month-old partially paralysed last month.”

From BBC.

“New Zealand’s native birds are now under threat from a new enemy: a highly evolved strain of deadly bird flu.

The country is in the second phase of vaccination trials on native birds, with early results suggesting it could be an effective line of defence against the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu strain.”

From The Guardian.

“Recently published findings in the The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal from a three-armed study in Mali in 2018-2021 on administering a malaria vaccine to women anticipating pregnancy show that those receiving the vaccine experienced significant efficacy against malaria infection and clinical malaria over two years, without the need for a booster dose. An exploratory analysis of women who went on to conceive during the study showed significant protection from malaria during pregnancy.”

From AllAfrica.