The World Health Organisation (WHO) said today that Congo would introduce a second vaccine against Ebola from mid-October, 2019 as the country continues to battle the second-worst outbreak of the disease in history.
WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus said in his statement that the DRC authorities have once again shown leadership and determination to end the outbreak as soon as possible.
The hemorrhagic fever has infected more than three thousand people and killed at least two thousand since an outbreak was declared thirteen months ago in Congo’s volatile eastern region.
The WHO declared it an international health emergency in July, 2019 after the disease spread to Goma, a major urban center near the border with Rwanda.
WHO said the second vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, will be given to at-risk populations in areas that do not have active Ebola transmission as an additional tool to extend protection against the virus.
Congolese authorities have said they want to target small-scale Congolese traders who cross into Rwanda.
The current vaccine, produced by Merck, has been given to more than two hundred and twenty three thousand people at high risk of Ebola, including those who had contact with an infected person.
Congo’s former health minister, Oly Ilunga, had in July criticized what he said was pressure to use a new Ebola vaccine to try to stem the spread of the virus. He is now under investigation for allegedly embezzling Ebola funds.
Curbing the spread of the virus in eastern Congo has proved difficult because of the numerous rebel groups operating in the area and a local population is suspicious of health workers.
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