PandemicPreparedness

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that people at high risk for infection in affected health zones are being targeted for preventative Ebola vaccination. More than 7,500 vaccine doses are on the ground in the DRC. The initial doses will be given to healthcare workers in both Mbandaka and Bikoro as well as used in a "ring vaccination" strategy, beginning in Mbandanka (the port city of 1.2 million people where at least 4 people have been diagnosed with Ebola.) Ring vaccination involves identifying Ebola cases, then offering the vaccine to their recent contacts as well as contacts of contacts. The supplies are currently sufficient to vaccinate 50 rings of 150 people. The vaccine has shown to be safe and very effective in trials so far, though it has not completed the drug approval process and is thus being used as an investigational vaccine. It contains no live Ebola virus. Finding contacts and gaining informed consent will be complicated. The remote areas affected are hard to access, and the vaccine must be stored at sub-zero temperatures. Language and cultural differences will also need to be worked through as the vaccine is voluntarily offered to at-risk people. This is the first time an Ebola vaccine has been deployed as a control strategy during an outbreak. WHO stresses that it is one aspect of a comprehensive outbreak control effort. Vaccination cannot replace case finding, contact tracing, isolation of suspected cases, prompt laboratory diagnosis, infection control in routine healthcare facilities, safe and dignified burials, community mobilization, and effective response coordination.