The Democratic Republic of the Congo received this Saturday the first shipment of the Ervebo vaccine, in a new attempt to contain the devastating Ebola outbreak declared a hundred days ago, which has already caused nearly 2,500 deaths and more than 5,200 confirmed infections since May 15.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed this week that the African country will have a total of 70,000 doses in the coming days. Of that batch, 20,000 will be allocated to support a phase 3 clinical trial aimed at better assessing the effect of the vaccine against the Bundibugyo strain, reminding that "it is not known if Ervebo can have a protective effect in humans against this variant."
In any case, the clinical studies referred to by the WHO indicate that "serious side effects of the Ervebo vaccine are very rare."
Tedros has indicated that the first results obtained in the laboratory and in animal models suggest that the vaccine could offer some degree of protection. He also emphasized that the magnitude of the health emergency requires the introduction of some controlled response measures to try to contain the worst Ebola outbreak the country has ever experienced, an episode that is already spreading across six provinces, with particular incidence in Ituri, in the north, and which is seriously aggravated by the numerous armed conflicts in the area, which hinder the proper monitoring of the disease.
The remaining 50,000 doses will be reserved to immunize frontline workers, the head of the WHO specified. Since the outbreak was declared, more than 160 health professionals have been infected with Ebola and 40 have lost their lives, as recalled this Thursday by Julien Harneis, the UN senior coordinator for Ebola.