The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A second experimental Ebola vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson is due to be introduced in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This vaccine, which is given as a 2-dose course, 56 days apart, will be provided under approved protocols to targeted at-risk populations in areas that do not have active Ebola transmission as an additional tool to extend protection against the virus.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will complement the current vaccine (rVSV-ZEBOV-GP, manufactured by Merck), which has proven highly effective and safe, and which has helped protect thousands of lives.
The main vaccination strategy used with the rVSV-ZEBOV-GP vaccine is a ‘ring strategy’ where all people who have come into contact with someone with a confirmed case of Ebola are given the vaccine. More than 223,000 people have received this vaccination during the current outbreak.
“The evaluation of the second Ebola vaccine will help ensure that we have potentially an additional tool to prevent the expansion of the outbreak and also a potential tool to protect populations before outbreaks hit areas at risk,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa has said in a statement.
The move is in line with recommendations issued by the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) in May 2019, after reviewing the use of vaccines in the ongoing Ebola outbreak.
Some of the recommendations included adjusting the dose of the Merck vaccine, evaluating a second vaccine under appropriate protocols, changing strategies when insecurity makes it difficult to reach people; such as providing pop-up vaccination stations and increasing the number of people vaccinated within communities with ongoing transmission, sometimes vaccinating whole villages.
“The advice we were given by SAGE in May has been applied, always taking into account community needs and preferences, as we know this will make the approach more effective. The changes made have saved thousands of lives in this outbreak,” WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Merck has provided WHO with 245,000 doses for DRC and neighbouring countries and built a stockpile of 190,000 doses that are ready to send to DRC. Merck also aims to release 650,000 doses over the next six to 18 months under its replenishment strategy. Under the current SAGE recommendations, this means that there are 390,000 doses currently and an additional 1.3 million doses will be available.
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has so far claimed 2,110 lives out of 3,046 confirmed cases. Three cases were confirmed in Uganda in June, the first cross-border cases since the outbreak began, and one additional case registered later in August.
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