Ebola: Congo To Deploy Second Vaccine - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Editor 2
September 21, 2019
Healthauthorities in Democratic Republic of Congo said on Saturday that they plan tointroduce a second Ebola vaccine, manufactured by Johnson & Johnson, tocounter the second-worst outbreak of the virus in history.
Theteam overseeing Congo’s Ebola response did not say when exactly the J&Jvaccine would be introduced. It will complement another vaccine manufactured byMerck, which has been administered to more than 225,000 people since August2018.
TheJ&J vaccine has been a source of controversy among Congolese healthofficials. The former health minister, who was stripped of oversight of theEbola response in July, opposed its use, saying it had not been proven safe oreffective.
Butin a statement, the current Ebola response team said the vaccine was safe and notedthat it was already being trialled in neighbouring Uganda and in the WestAfrican country of Guinea.
Thestatement said health officials intended to start by offering the J&Jvaccine to Congolese traders who cross into Rwanda and then to residents of theprovince neighbouring the epicentre of the outbreak “to create a corridor ofimmunised people”.