The World Health Organization (WHO) has for the first time prequalified an Mpox vaccine.
The announcement came on the heels of the arrival of the first MVA-BN vaccines to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicentre of the epidemic.
DRC has recorded nearly 22,000 cases and 716 deaths linked to the virus since January.
So far, some 200,000 vaccine doses have been delivered to the DRC by the European Union, along with about 50,000 from the United States.
Mpox, previously known as monkeypox, is caused by a virus transmitted to humans by infected animals but can also be passed from human to human through close physical contact.
