The shots are expected to arrive on Sunday and the inoculation campaign could begin on Monday.
More than 11,000 Ebola vaccines are expected to arrive in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, on Sunday after the country declared an Ebola outbreak last week.
World Health Organization regional director for Africa Matshidiso Moeti told reporters on Thursday that in addition to the 11,000 jabs planned to land from Geneva, 8,600 more will be sent from the United States.
Speaking to reporters at the same press conference, Mohamed Lamine Yansane, senior adviser to Guinea’s health minister, said the vaccines would be distributed immediately to start the vaccination campaign as early as Monday.
“We are firmly supported by the experience gained during the first wave of the Ebola epidemic,” Yansane said, referring to the outbreak that lasted from 2013 to 16-16.
Guinea declared an Ebola epidemic on February 14 after seven people became ill with diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a funeral in Goueke, near the border with Liberia. So far five people have died from the disease.
Authorities and international organizations are making rapid progress to help Guinea prevent a further spread of the disease, and more than 100 experts are expected to be on the ground by the end of the month, according to Moeti.
The UN health expert also stressed that “it is unlikely” that Guinea will experience a situation similar to that experienced during the previous Ebola outbreak, thanks to the country’s response capacity built from the past. and rapid coordination with other African countries.
The current outbreak is the first since a 2013-2016 epidemic, which began in Guinea, caused 11,300 deaths in West Africa. Most cases occurred in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Because the first case detected was in a border area, Moeti said neighboring countries were on alert for possible cross-border infections.
On Sunday, Liberian President George Weah ordered health authorities to step up surveillance and preventive activities in the country following the outbreak in his neighboring country.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone has sent workers to monitor border entry points in coordination with Guinea authorities, a health ministry spokesman said.
Guinea’s outbreak was declared a week after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported a resurgence of the virus in Butembo, the epicenter of a previous outbreak that was declared last June. The country on Monday launched an Ebola vaccination campaign.
The spread of 2013-2016 accelerated the development of the Ebola vaccine, with a global emergency reserve of 500,000 doses planned to respond quickly to future outbreaks, Gavi said, The Vaccine Alliance said in January.