Equitable global allocation of monkeypox vaccines

G. Owen Schaefer, Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Caesar A. Atuire, R. J. Leland, Govind Persad, Henry S. Richardson, Carla Saenz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

With the world grappling with continued spread of monkeypox internationally, vaccines play a crucial role in mitigating the harms from infection and preventing spread. However, countries with the greatest need – particularly historically endemic countries with the highest monkeypox case-fatality rates – are not able to acquire scarce vaccines. This is unjust, and requires rectification through equitable allocation of vaccines globally. We propose applying the Fair Priority Model for such allocation, which emphasizes three key principles: 1) preventing harm; 2) prioritizing the disadvantaged; and 3) treating people with equal moral concern. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEPV) has the most potential to mitigate harm, and so ensuring countries have sufficient supply for PEPV should be the first priority. And historically endemic countries, which face disadvantages that compound potential harms from monkeypox, should be the first recipients of such vaccines. Once sufficient supply is allocated for countries to apply PEPV, global allocation could move on to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), again prioritizing historically endemic countries first before distribution to the rest of the global community, based on projected number of cases and vulnerability to harm.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7084-7088
Number of pages5
JournalVaccine
Volume41
Issue number48
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Nov 2023

Keywords

  • Fair priority model
  • Global Health
  • Monkeypox
  • Monkeypox vaccines
  • Mpox
  • PEPV
  • PreP
  • Vaccine allocation

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