Global mpox vaccine stockpile launched to give every country access during outbreaks

A permanent global stockpile of mpox vaccines, accessible to every country, was launched on 27 August 2026 and announced by the World Health Organization on 2 September. It converts the allocation mechanism improvised during the 2024 mpox emergency into a standing facility. The stockpile was approved by the Gavi Board in 2025, is funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and is coordinated by the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision. It was set to begin operations later in September 2026.

The International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision, known as the ICG, was established in 1997 after major meningitis outbreaks in Africa. Its partner agencies are the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF and the World Health Organization. Its mandate previously covered stockpiles for cholera, meningitis, yellow fever and Ebola virus disease vaccines. Mpox is the newest addition to that list.

The burden the stockpile is meant to address is set out in WHO's own reporting. From 1 January 2022 to 31 July 2026, 145 countries and territories reported 190,683 confirmed mpox cases and 529 deaths. Two-thirds of reported cases occur in the WHO African Region, which is also the region that waited for doses during the last emergency.

The new mechanism builds directly on the Access and Allocation Mechanism improvised in 2024, during the mpox public health emergency of international concern. That arrangement was assembled while the emergency was already under way. African countries waited months for doses that high-income countries had already secured bilaterally.

Under the standing facility, countries request doses through ICG allocation rather than negotiating bilaterally with manufacturers. That is the structural change the launch represents: allocation is decided by epidemiological need rather than by ability to pay.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said: “The launch of a stockpile of mpox vaccines is an important step towards a more sustainable and equitable approach to mpox outbreak response… ensuring that countries can access them more quickly when they need them, saving lives and containing outbreaks before they spread further.”

Dr Sania Nishtar, Chief Executive Officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, set the launch against the previous outbreak. She said: “During the 2022 mpox outbreak, lower-income countries were left behind when it came to access to vaccines… the bottom line is that any country in the world – not just those with the ability to pay the most – should be able to use this tool to save lives.”

Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General and Chief Executive Officer of the IFRC, said: “Access to vaccines – for all who need them – is absolutely vital… This is rare good news.”

Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, said: “This vital initiative will help us quickly get vaccines to the children, families, and communities most at risk of the disease.”

Médecins Sans Frontières is one of the four partner agencies in the ICG. Dr Daniela Garone, its International Medical Coordinator, said the mechanism “allows for the equal allocation of vaccines as based on demand and impact in controlling disease outbreaks.”

WHO did not disclose the number of doses held in the stockpile, or its monetary value, in the announcement.

Operations began from late September 2026. The test of the mechanism will be the first outbreak in which a low-income country requests doses, and how quickly those doses arrive once the request is made.