Will an experimental mRNA vaccine help fight the mpox outbreak?

Health workers attend to an mpox patient at a treatment centre in Munigi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Associated Press/Alamy

An mRNA vaccine for mpox developed by the biotech company Moderna has shown promise in monkeys, raising hopes that it could help to tackle the ongoing outbreak in West and Central Africa. While other vaccines for the virus already exist and helped to bring a global mpox outbreak in 2022 under control, researchers say a new vaccine based on mRNA technology would have a number of advantages.

Nigeria, which has had 35 confirmed cases of mpox so far…