Health authorities will begin using a second Ebola vaccine in three eastern provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo from November to fight the deadly virus, reported Reuters.
“It’s time to use the new Ad26-ZEBOV-GP vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson’s Belgian subsidiary,” said Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who leads the national anti-Ebola operation in the DRC.
He added that the first batch of the J&J vaccine will arrive in the eastern city of Goma, in North Kivu province, on October 18. It will be first given to the people of Goma from the beginning of next month and then be extended to other provinces.
The J&J vaccine will complement another Merck manufactured vaccine, which has been administered to more than 225,000 people. The people will be given two injections of the J&J vaccine eight weeks apart, unlike the Merck vaccine, which requires a single shot.
The latest Ebola epidemic began in DRC in August 2018. The outbreak has already killed 2144 people, making it the second deadliest outbreak of the virus, after the 2014-2016 West Africa pandemic.
Muyembe said the communes of Majingo and Kahembe will first receive the vaccine as they were considered the epicentres of the epidemic. He said they will extend the vaccination to the small traders who often go to neighbouring country Rwanda. The Belgian laboratory will send a batch of 200,000 doses to Rwanda and 500,000 doses in the DRC.
“If it works well, we will expand vaccination in South Kivu and Ituri,” Muyembe added.
Notably, DRC’s former health minister Oly Ilunga had rejected the use of J&J vaccine citing the risks of introducing a new product in communities where mistrust of Ebola responders is already high. But Ilunga’s resignation in July paved the way for approval of the second vaccine. Muyembe is currently facing the charges of embezzlement of funds intended for use in the fight against Ebola.
