Ebola vaccination campaign starts in DR Congo

Health workers and others on the front lines of the Ebola response were among the first to receive the vaccine.

Health Minister Roger Kamba said the vaccination campaign was officially launched in Kisangani, the capital of Tshopo Province in the east of the country.

Kamba said, “We decided to use the Ervebo vaccine to protect those on the front lines first, including our healthcare workers, as well as people who have been in contact with patients.”

The outbreak has so far affected six provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Tshopo, Haut-Uele and Bas-Uele.

As of Tuesday, the country had recorded 5,713 confirmed cases, including 2,744 deaths, according to government figures. The overall fatality rate among confirmed cases stood at around 48 percent.

Earlier, WHO confirmed that the Ebola outbreak in Uganda had officially ended, while cautioning that transmission remains active in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.