Dutch politicians vote to order Cabinet to donate Mpox vaccines to Africa

Parliamentarians voted on Tuesday to order Health Minister Fleur Agema to donate part of the Dutch supply of Mpox vaccines to African countries where the virus is spreading, even though Agema is very much opposed to the idea. One of the PVV politician’s coalition parties, the NSC, broke ranks and joined the opposition in the vote in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament.

The Tweede Kamer ignored Agema’s protest, and ordered her to share the vaccines. She has already announced that she will comply with the measure.

The vast majority of the 100,000 doses that the Netherlands has in its possession will remain in the country’s stock. But the Tweede Kamer believes that 13,200 vaccine doses with a limited shelf life will not immediately be put to use in the Netherlands.

As such, they can be put to better use by being deployed in Central African countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to opposition parties and the government coalition party NSC, the Netherlands is best served by combating the outbreak there.

Agema wanted to remain “cautious” and said she would only consider donating vaccines once the Netherlands received a new order of doses next spring. But the Tweede Kamer was not convinced, with factions representing 79 of the 150 seats in the lower house voting to force Agema to make the donation.

Because NSC also stood firm, a majority in the Tweede Kamer voted on Tuesday in favor of the call for Agema to make the donation. The D66 motion was joined by the NSC, as well as SP, GroenLinks-PvdA, PvdD, Denk, Volt, ChristenUnie, SGP, CDA and JA21.

A new variant of the Mpox virus, formerly known as the monkeypox virus, has been advancing in Central Africa in recent months. It can be combated with a smallpox vaccine, of which the Netherlands has almost 100,000 in case the virus reappears.

The Netherlands also has a large stock of smallpox vaccines of an older generation, which Agema decided not to include in her calculations. She said this due to their side effects and restrictions on use.

This delivery of 13,200 doses will help “both ourselves and the affected African countries,” said D66 MP Wieke Paulusma, who submitted the motion. “By combating the outbreak at the source, we are preventing it from coming to our country.”