A new global stockpile of mpox vaccines will begin operations later in September, giving every country a route to request doses during outbreaks, the World Health Organization and partner agencies announced on September 2. Gavi will finance the reserve, while the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision will coordinate access in an effort to make emergency vaccination faster and more equitable.
The initiative was formally launched on August 27 and converts a temporary allocation system created during the 2024 mpox international health emergency into a long-term mechanism. The WHO said Gavi's board approved the stockpile in 2025. The coordinating group brings together the WHO, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Health agencies said mpox continues to cause outbreaks worldwide and that two-thirds of reported cases occur in the WHO African Region. From January 1, 2022 through July 31, 2026, authorities in 145 countries and territories reported 190,683 confirmed cases and 529 deaths. The disease spreads mainly through close physical contact, including sexual contact, while animal-to-human transmission still occurs in parts of Africa.
Mpox can be debilitating and disfiguring and may lead to severe complications or death, particularly among children and people with weakened immune systems. Vaccinating people at risk can reduce severe illness and help contain outbreaks before they expand. UNICEF will procure and manage the emergency inventory and, when instructed by the coordinating group, arrange rapid delivery of vaccines and safe injection equipment.
Partner agencies framed the reserve as a response to unequal access during the 2022 outbreak, when lower-income countries struggled to obtain doses. Gavi chief executive Sania Nishtar said the mechanism is intended to serve countries according to need rather than purchasing power. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a dedicated reserve should help countries obtain vaccines sooner and curb outbreaks before wider spread.
The stockpile extends a system established in 1997 after major meningitis outbreaks in Africa. That system already coordinates emergency supplies for cholera, meningitis, yellow fever and Ebola. The group will determine the mpox reserve's size and product mix with manufacturers and donors, while exploring access to diagnostics and related supplies; operational details and the first country requests are expected as the reserve starts work this month.
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