This archive report was first published on 14 October 2019.
Medical officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have announced plans to use a second Ebola vaccine in three eastern provinces to combat the ongoing outbreak.
According to Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who leads the national anti-Ebola operation in the DRC, the new Ad26-ZEBOV-GP vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson's Belgian subsidiary, will be introduced in the eastern city of Goma, North Kivu province, on October 18.
The vaccine will be used from November 1, targeting the communes of Majingo and Kahembe, which have been identified as the epicentres of the epidemic.
As of August 2018, the DRC's latest Ebola epidemic has claimed 2,144 lives, making it the second deadliest outbreak of the virus, after the West Africa pandemic of 2014-2016.
Dr. Muyembe stated that the vaccine will also be extended to small traders who frequently travel to Rwanda to protect their neighbors.
"If it works well, we will expand vaccination in South Kivu and Ituri," he added.
The DRC's eastern provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu share borders with Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi.
Johnson & Johnson's Belgian laboratory will send a batch of 200,000 doses to neighboring Rwanda and 500,000 doses to the DRC.
Over 237,000 people living in active Ebola transmission zones have received a vaccination produced by Merck Sharpe and Dohme since August 8, 2018.
The introduction of the second vaccine comes after the resignation of former health minister Oly Ilunga, who had rejected the J&J vaccine citing risks of introducing a new product in communities with high mistrust of Ebola responders.
