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More than 16,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Friday, as the country battles what authorities describe as its deadliest Ebola outbreak.
An AFP journalist witnessed the delivery of 16,250 doses at an airport in Kinshasa.
The outbreak, the DRC’s 17th, was officially declared on May 15, although health officials believe the virus had been spreading for several weeks before detection.
The outbreak has affected parts of northern and eastern DRC, areas where weak state presence, limited healthcare infrastructure and the activities of armed groups have complicated efforts to contain the disease.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday that it would make 70,000 doses of Ervebo available to the DRC.
Developed by pharmaceutical company Merck and manufactured in Germany, Ervebo is approved for protection against the Zaire strain of Ebola. It has not been approved for the Bundibugyo strain currently circulating in the DRC.
Scientists are still assessing whether Ervebo can protect against the Bundibugyo strain. However, preliminary evidence, including findings from animal studies, suggests the vaccine could provide some protection.
DRC Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said the vaccine has previously been deployed extensively, including during the country’s 2018–2020 Ebola outbreak.
“The Ervebo vaccine has already been used several times, and in particular on a very large scale during the 2018–2020 outbreak,” Kamba told reporters at Kinshasa airport.
Of the 70,000 doses being supplied, 20,000 will be used in a clinical trial, while the remaining 50,000 will be administered to “frontline and health workers”, according to the WHO.
The outbreak has so far killed 2,516 people among 5,290 confirmed cases, according to the latest figures from Congolese authorities.
UN senior Ebola coordinator Julien Harneis warned on Friday that the outbreak “is growing exponentially.”
WHO vaccine experts this month recommended a large-scale human trial of Ervebo to determine whether it can provide cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain.
Meanwhile, two vaccines specifically targeting the Bundibugyo strain are already undergoing clinical trials. One is being developed by US pharmaceutical company Moderna using mRNA technology, while the other is being developed by the University of Oxford in the UK.
Singapore-based Hilleman Laboratories is also developing an “rVSV Bundibugyo” vaccine, which the WHO has described as the “most promising” candidate.
Ebola spreads through contact with infected bodily fluids and can cause severe fever and other serious symptoms. The virus has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa over the past five decades.
