The World Health Organization said a global mpox vaccine stockpile is now being stood up so countries can get doses faster when an outbreak starts.
The initiative was launched on 27 August 2026. WHO published the announcement on 2 September. Operations were due to begin later in September. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, funds the stockpile. The International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision will run it.
ICG partners are WHO, UNICEF, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Médecins Sans Frontières.
Why a stockpile now
Mpox is still causing outbreaks. WHO said about two-thirds of reported cases are in the African Region. From 1 January 2022 to 31 July 2026, 145 countries and territories reported 190,683 confirmed cases and 529 deaths.
The virus spreads mainly through close physical contact. Animal-to-human infection still occurs in parts of Africa. Severe disease is more likely in children and people with weakened immune systems.
In 2022, lower-income countries waited longer for vaccines. In 2024, during the last mpox Public Health Emergency of International Concern, WHO and partners used a temporary Access and Allocation Mechanism. The new stockpile is meant to replace that ad-hoc system with a standing pool.
Gavi’s board approved and financed the stockpile in 2025. The ICG already manages emergency stocks for cholera, meningitis, yellow fever, and Ebola. Mpox is now added to that list.
What officials said
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said a dedicated stockpile should let countries “access them more quickly when they need them, saving lives and containing outbreaks before they spread further.”
Gavi CEO Sania Nishtar said any country — not only those that can pay the most — should be able to use the pool. UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said the stockpile should help get vaccines to children and families at highest risk. IFRC and MSF welcomed equal allocation based on demand and outbreak impact.
How this differs from the Ebola emergency
The stockpile is for mpox outbreak response. It is not a treatment for the Bundibugyo Ebola epidemic in the DRC, which WHO separately said this week had passed 6,000 cases and 3,000 deaths.
That outbreak has no licensed Bundibugyo-specific vaccine yet. The mpox stockpile is for a virus that already has licensed vaccines and a history of unequal access.
This is an original Utila summary of the WHO announcement. It is not medical advice and not a reprint.
Key Takeaways
- WHO, Gavi, UNICEF, IFRC, and MSF launched a global mpox vaccine stockpile.
- It is funded by Gavi and run by the ICG, the same group that holds emergency cholera, meningitis, yellow fever, and Ebola vaccines.
- Operations were due to start later in September 2026.
- From 2022 to July 2026, WHO counted 190,683 confirmed mpox cases and 529 deaths in 145 countries.
- The aim is faster, more equal access when the next outbreak starts.
