DR Congo Begins Ebola Vaccinations for Health Workers to Curb Deadly Outbreak
- Democratic Republic of Congo began vaccinating frontline health workers against Ebola on Thursday, August 28, using an experimental vaccine campaign aimed at halting the country's largest and deadliest...
- Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba announced that the country received more than 50,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine to distribute across affected provinces, prioritizing workers on the front lines,...
- Ervebo is licensed specifically against the Zaire species of Ebola and has been deployed successfully in past outbreaks.
Democratic Republic of Congo began vaccinating frontline health workers against Ebola on Thursday, August 28, using an experimental vaccine campaign aimed at halting the country’s largest and deadliest recorded epidemic of the virus, according to reporting from international news agencies.
Vaccine Rollout in Tshopo Province
Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba announced that the country received more than 50,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine to distribute across affected provinces, prioritizing workers on the front lines, according to Reuters. Vaccinations officially started in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo province, which serves as one of six provinces impacted by the ongoing public health emergency. According to Kamba’s rollout plan cited by Reuters, the immunization campaign will initially cover provinces surrounding Ituri. The outbreak was first detected in Ituri and remains heavily concentrated there, before the distribution progressively moves inward to other affected regions.
Clinical Trial for Bundibugyo Species
Ervebo is licensed specifically against the Zaire species of Ebola and has been deployed successfully in past outbreaks. However, the current epidemic in Congo is driven by the Bundibugyo species, for which no approved vaccine or treatment currently exists, as reported by Reuters. To address this mismatch, health authorities are deploying 20,000 out of 70,000 total allocated Ervebo doses in a clinical trial. Researchers want to assess its effectiveness in humans against the Bundibugyo strain, relying on early animal studies that suggested the vaccine could offer some cross-protection, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, several other vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo species remain under development by organizations such as the University of Oxford and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
Scale of the Epidemic
Government figures cited by Reuters indicate that the outbreak, which was officially declared on May 15, has infected 5,794 people and caused 2,786 deaths. These numbers make the current event the second deadliest Ebola epidemic on record. United Nations leadership has also drawn international attention to the mounting crisis. The UN chief condemned what he termed indifference as case numbers continue to climb across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to UN News coverage.
