As the mpox outbreak in the DRC and other African countries continues, it is critical to understand what it may cost to get mpox vaccines to those who are most at risk. In this blog post, Laura Boonstoppel and Flavia Moi at ThinkWell, explain why they think mpox vaccines will be much more expensive to deliver than other vaccines:
💉 Mpox vaccines are bulky, which makes them expensive to transport and store
💉 Vaccine supply is still limited, which causes inefficiencies in distribution and leads to higher delivery costs per dose
💉 While using multiple vaccine products can ease supply constraints, this will also drive training costs up
💉 Mpox’s complex and evolving target population will likely increases identification and social mobilization costs
💉 The DRC has a long history of vaccine hesitancy: combatting this may require consistent investments to sustain demand as vaccination moves beyond the most affected areas
💉 The epicenter of this outbreak is in areas where conflict and security issues also drive-up vaccine delivery costs
Fortunately, we can learn from the COVID-19 and Ebola experiences to bring costs down and limit the impact on other essential health services:
👉 As supply constraints ease and the target population expands, efficiencies in vaccine distribution and delivery strategies will likely bring delivery costs down
👉 Building and sustaining trust in a new vaccine can be costly, but the consequences of low vaccine uptake and a continued mpox outbreak will be much costlier
👉 Other deadly diseases must not be forgotten: as children are included in future vaccination campaigns there will be more opportunities for integrated delivery, including with routine immunization. This will bring the cost of mpox vaccine delivery down while reaching vulnerable communities with other life-saving vaccines.
Donors and partners can do their part by 1️⃣ ensuring a rapid ramp up mpox vaccine supply 2️⃣ supporting the rollout of comprehensive social mobilization strategy 3️⃣ facilitating integration by improving coordination among vertical programs and coordinating on timings of grants, shipments, interventions, and reporting.
Finally, while mpox delivery costs are high, they pale in comparison to procurement costs for the vaccine. Given the tight funding landscape and the many priorities that the global health community faces today, donors must use all the market shaping tools at their disposal to bring the price of mpox vaccines down and ensure adequate financing for all health programs.📰 Read the full blog post here: https://ow.ly/FOjk50Ugi0c