The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) received more than 16,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine as the country faces its most severe Ebola outbreak on record.
The 16,250 doses arrived in the capital Kinshasa late Friday, marking the first delivery of the 70,000 doses pledged by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners on Thursday. The remaining doses are expected to arrive next week.
While the vaccine is approved for the Zaire strain, the current outbreak in DR Congo involves the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. However, according to WHO, preliminary animal trial data suggest that Ervebo may offer some cross-protection.
DR Congo's Health Minister, Samuel Roger Kamba, noted that Ervebo has been used extensively before, including on a large scale during the 2018–2020 outbreak.
Of the 70,000 doses allocated for DR Congo, 20,000 will be used in a late-stage clinical trial to test the vaccine’s efficacy against Bundibugyo, with the rest reserved for frontline health workers, according to WHO.
The outbreak has killed over 2,500 people out of nearly 5,300 confirmed cases. The United Nations warned earlier this week that the disease continues to spread exponentially.
Although the epidemic was officially declared in mid-May, officials believe the virus had been spreading for weeks prior. Data from the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that the outbreak has not yet peaked and could be spreading at three times the currently recorded rate.
Experts say that control efforts in DR Congo are hampered by prolonged armed conflict, delays in case detection, and a lack of health infrastructure in the eastern regions.
