Congo to Receive 70,000 Ebola Doses
The Democratic Republic of the Congo will receive 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine from the International Coordinating Group to protect frontline communities against the ongoing Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain.
The allocation was approved after the Kinshasa government requested doses from the global Ebola vaccine stockpile last week. Of the total, 20,000 doses will be used in a clinical trial in the DRC while the remaining 50,000 will go to health workers.
The World Health Organization welcomed the decision but stressed that it remains unknown whether Ervebo, developed against the Zaire ebolavirus, will provide protection against Bundibugyo. Early laboratory and animal data suggest it may offer some cross-protection, and the trial is expected to generate essential evidence for future use.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the release as an important example of global solidarity. UN Senior Ebola Coordinator Julien Harneis said the allocation gives hope, particularly for frontline health workers.
The outbreak, declared on 15 May, has become the deadliest in the DRC’s history. As of Wednesday, cases had climbed to 5,021, with earlier figures showing at least 2,325 deaths. More than 160 health workers have contracted the virus and 40 have died. Conflict in the east, including fighting involving the Rwanda-backed M23 group and other armed factions, continues to hinder the response by blocking access, forcing the closure of health facilities and displacing populations, complicating contact tracing and safe burials.
Reports indicate that M23 has claimed it is mounting its own Ebola response in areas under its control, including disease surveillance, and has announced restrictions on shared transport to and from government-held zones affected by the outbreak. The UN has repeatedly sanctioned and condemned the group for atrocities against civilians.
The International Coordinating Group manages emergency vaccine supplies during major outbreaks and has previously allocated tens of thousands of Ervebo doses for earlier Ebola responses in the DRC. The latest shipment arrives as responders continue to rely primarily on classic public-health measures while research into Bundibugyo-specific tools advances.
