The World Health Organization announced it is sending 70,000 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo to protect health workers and conduct clinical trials.
The organization said in an official statement that the shipment includes 20,000 doses allocated for a Phase III clinical trial, aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the vaccine against the Bundybugyo virus, in addition to 50,000 doses for frontline workers and health workers, in accordance with current recommendations.
She explained that there is still no conclusive evidence that the Ervebo vaccine provides protection to humans against the Bundibugyo virus, noting that early test data and animal trials suggest it may offer some level of protection. The Ervebo vaccine is licensed for the prevention of the Ebola Zaire virus.
The organization added that the clinical trial in the Democratic Republic of Congo will provide additional data that will help determine the future use of the Ervebo vaccine.
The World Health Organization declared on May 17 that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda constituted an emergency that posed a risk to other countries, and assessed the regional risk level of the virus spreading as high.
According to the latest data, more than 2,300 people have died from the virus, while more than 5,000 cases of the disease have been recorded.
