Spain has announced plans to donate 500,000 doses of the mpox vaccine—equivalent to 20% of its stockpile—to help fight an outbreak of the disease in Africa, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
The ministry also urged the European Commission to encourage all EU member states to contribute 20% of their vaccine stockpiles to support the effort.
“It makes no sense to stockpile vaccines where they aren’t needed, and now is the time to act on that principle,” the ministry stated. Spain’s contribution consists of 100,000 vials, which will provide 500,000 doses.
The World Health Organization recently declared mpox a global public health emergency after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo spread to neighboring countries. Additionally, the emergence of a new form of the virus, clade Ib, has raised concerns about its rapid transmission.
Last week, Health Minister Monica Garcia confirmed that Spain maintains “a very good stock” of the vaccines. The country has recorded 268 cases of the older strain of mpox so far this year, significantly lower than the 7,500 cases reported during the global outbreak in 2022. Approximately 40,000 people in Spain have been vaccinated to date.