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Health workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo initiated a test vaccination programme on Saturday to evaluate whether an existing vaccine can protect against a different strain of the Ebola virus.
Backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the study will administer the Ervebo vaccine to 20,000 frontline healthcare personnel across the hard-hit Ituri and North-Kivu provinces over the course of a year.
The current outbreak stems from the Bundibugyo strain, which currently lacks an approved vaccine or targeted treatment.
Officials hope the Ervebo vaccine—originally developed by Merck for the Zaire strain—will provide cross-protection against Bundibugyo.
Medical staff in Bunia received the first doses on Saturday as part of the trial’s initial rollout.
The epidemic has already claimed 3,639 lives out of 7,541 confirmed cases, representing a fatality rate of 48.3 per cent.
While WHO officials point to encouraging signs of slowing transmission, MSF warns that health authorities have not yet brought the outbreak under control.
Experts rely on promising animal trial data to justify deploying 70,000 doses to help safeguard essential health workers.
