The Netherlands will not yet donate any mpox vaccines to African countries

The Netherlands will not be donating any mpox vaccines to African countries that need them until at least the beginning of next year. This was decided by Minister of Health Fleur Agema, she wrote in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. The approximately 100,000 boxes the Netherlands has in stock are being kept as the minister wants to be prepared as a nation for any circumstances.

According to the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the stock of around 100,000 boxes is enough for an eventual outbreak. The vaccines are from 2019, and a large part of them can be used up to September 2025.

Mpox, also known as monkeypox, has been circulating in Africa for months now, with a new, more dangerous variant circulating in the Democratic Republic of Congo since last year. The virus has also been detected in Sweden and Thailand.

Agema is expecting a new delivery of mpox vaccines at the start of next year. If she were to opt for donations before then, the stock would drop below 100,000 units, and the minister does not want that. As soon as the new vaccines are in, Agema will make a new assessment for the almost outdated boxes.

Germany announced on Monday that it will donate 100,000 vaccines. The European Commission and the United States have taken similar steps. The donations could help prevent the virus from spreading further.

“100,000 is exactly the stock that I have been recommended to keep,” said Agema. “When the new stock is in, then I will have more boxes in stock than the advice,” from the RIVM. “And then we can also contemplate donating. Because I am obviously not against donating, let that be clear.”