More than 16,000 doses of Ervebo vaccine arrive in Ebola-hit DR Congo - Al Jazeera

More than 16,250 doses of the Ervebo vaccine arrived in Kinshasa late on Friday, the first batch of 70,000 pledged by the World Health Organization and partners on Thursday, as the DRC battles its deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak.
Additional doses are expected next week, though Ervebo is approved only against the Zaire strain, while the Bundibugyo strain currently circulating in the country has no approved vaccine or treatment.
Of the 70,000 doses, 20,000 will be used in a late-stage clinical trial testing the vaccine's effect on the Bundibugyo strain, with the remainder allocated to front-line health workers.
DRC Health Minister Samuel Roger Kamba said Ervebo had been deployed on a "very large scale" during the 2018–2020 outbreak, and early animal-trial data suggest it may offer some protection against the current strain.
The outbreak has killed more than 2,500 people out of nearly 5,300 confirmed cases, with the United Nations warning that infections are spreading "exponentially".
Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia and former WHO Ebola consultant, said animal studies from a decade ago showed the Zaire-strain vaccine reduced the risk of dying and pointed to some cross-reaction in humans, though he cautioned that reduced transmission remains speculative.