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WHO to share vaccines to stop monkeypox amid inequity fears

This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virus particles, left, and spherical immature particles, right.
Cynthia S. Goldsmith, Russell Regner
/
CDC via AP
This 2003 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows mature, oval-shaped monkeypox virus particles, left, and spherical immature particles, right.

To some health experts, the initiative potentially misses the opportunity to control monkeypox virus in the African countries where it’s infected people for decades.

The World Health Organization is creating a new vaccine-sharing mechanism to stop the spiraling outbreak of monkeypox in more than 30 countries beyond Africa.

The move could result in the U.N. health agency distributing scarce vaccine doses to rich countries that otherwise can afford them.

To some health experts, the initiative potentially misses the opportunity to control monkeypox in the African countries where it’s infected people for decades. They say the program might repeat the inequity in vaccine distribution that was seen during the coronavirus pandemic.

The mechanism was proposed shortly after Britain, Canada, France, Germany, the U.S. and other countries reported hundreds of monkeypox cases last month.

Click here to read more of this article from the Associated Press.