Congo began vaccinating people against Ebola on Thursday as health authorities work to slow the fastest-growing outbreak of the disease in history.
Health workers and other frontline responders are being prioritised to receive the Ervebo vaccine that was effective in past Ebola outbreaks caused by a different, more common strain. Clinical trials are under way to find a licensed jab for the current outbreak.
“We have decided to use the Ervebo vaccine to protect first those who are on the front line,” Health Minister Roger Kamba said at the launch of the vaccination campaign in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo, which is one of the six provinces affected by Ebola in the east.
As of Tuesday, the country had recorded 5,713 confirmed cases, including 2,744 deaths, according to government figures. The epidemic is concentrated in the Ituri province and is already known to be the deadliest of the country’s 17 previous Ebola outbreaks.
The crisis is spreading under extremely difficult conditions, fuelled by insecurity, displacement, a health workers’ strike and intense population movements. The World Health Organization (WHO) has said it remains out of control and is on track to surpass the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak, the deadliest on record, which killed more than 11,000 people, primarily in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
