Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have introduced a second vaccine to fight the deadly Ebola virus in the east of the country, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said on Thursday, reported BBC.
Produced by a Belgian subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, the new vaccine will be injected to more than 500,000 Congolese over a period of four months. The vaccine requires two doses given 56 days apart.
It will be given to adults and children over one, living in two areas of the DR Congo city of Goma, where there is no active transmission of the deadly disease. Goma is on the border with Rwanda and has a major international airport. At least two Ebola cases have been registered in Goma in July and August.
The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo began in August 2018 in the conflict-wracked eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri, bordering Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. The outbreak has so far killed 2,193 people, according to the latest official figures. It is the DRC’s second deadliest on record after an outbreak that struck West Africa in 2014 to 16, claiming more than 11 300 lives.
The new J&J vaccine had initially been rejected by DRC’s former health minister Oly Ilunga. He had cited the risks of introducing a new product in communities where mistrust of Ebola responders is already high.
Ilunga’s resignation in July paved the way for approval of the second vaccine. He currently faces charges that he embezzled funds intended for the fight against Ebola.
The J&J vaccine will be used alongside a vaccine made by Merck, which has already been given to around 250,000 people. Merck’s Ebola vaccine has now been approved by the World Health Organization. The European Commission has also approved the vaccine.
