DRC set to receive 70,000 Ebola vaccines, not approved for current strain, WHO says
Last week, the DRC had requested a release of Ervebo vaccines from the global Ebola virus disease vaccine stockpile, managed by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is set to receive 70,000 doses of Merck's Ervebo Ebola vaccine from the World Health Organization (WHO). However, the vaccine is not approved for use against the current strain of the disease, causing concern among health officials. The DRC had requested the allocation of these vaccines last week to help contain its largest-ever Ebola outbreak.
Out of the 70,000 doses being provided, 20,000 are intended for a late-stage trial to better understand how effective the vaccine is against the Ebola Bundibugyo strain. This strain remains poorly understood in terms of its impact on humans when compared to the more common Ebola Zaire strain, for which the Ervebo vaccine is approved.
The current Ebola outbreak in the DRC is now the country's most severe on record, with over 5,000 confirmed cases and 2,378 deaths reported by government data. This surpasses the previous worst outbreak, which occurred between 2018 and 2020. WHO's Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus recently reiterated that the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo continues to be a global emergency.
Written by urgent.news from Jerusalem Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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