DRC to receive 70,000 Ebola vaccine doses as outbreak worsens

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is set to receive 70,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine as authorities and international health organisations step up efforts to contain the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak on record.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners said the vaccine has previously proven effective during Ebola outbreaks, Caliber.Az reports, citing Euronews.

The remaining 50,000 doses will be administered to frontline and healthcare workers in line with recommendations from WHO experts.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the vaccine approval as “an important example of global solidarity in action.”

He said the WHO and its partners would continue supporting surveillance, rapid detection, quality medical care, community engagement and vaccination programs to bring the outbreak under control.

The outbreak, which is affecting six provinces in eastern DRC, has spread and caused deaths at a faster rate than any previous Ebola outbreak.

According to health officials, the virus is spreading at roughly three times the rate recorded during the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which remains the deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, killing more than 11,000 people.

The current case fatality rate is 47.5%, but it has reached as high as 70% in areas where response efforts are more difficult, including North Kivu province.

Experts believe the virus may have begun spreading from the mining town of Mongbwalu as early as February, several months before authorities officially declared the outbreak on May 15.

Since then, more than 5,000 cases and over 2,300 deaths have been recorded in the country, making the outbreak the deadliest Ebola epidemic in DRC’s history.

The outbreak has also presented a major challenge for healthcare workers because the rare Bundibugyo virus has no widely approved vaccines or treatments.

Many of the newly identified cases have involved people who were not under monitoring, suggesting that the virus is spreading faster than health teams can track it and contributing to the rising death toll.

The arrival of the vaccine doses is expected to significantly strengthen efforts to slow transmission and contain the outbreak.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov