In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a second vaccine is being used against the Ebola virus, which has been rampant for more than a year. The produced for the US company Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be used in Goma in the east of the country, said the aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
Within four months, therefore, 50,000 people in the megacity will be vaccinated with it. The efficacy of the new vaccine has only been confirmed in clinical trials to date, according to MSF claims, and has never been tested under real-world conditions.
More than 250,000 people have been vaccinated since the beginning of August 2018 with another drug of the pharmaceutical company Merck. The World Health Organization (WHO) had pushed for the introduction of a second vaccine. According to MSF, this should not replace Merck's existing vaccine, but should expand the treatment options.
photo gallery
10 pictures
Ebola in the Congo: The conquerorsThe current Ebola epidemic broke out on 1 August 2018. It is already the tenth in the country. Especially affected is the eastern part of the country, where several militias are active and complicating the work of the helpers. In July, WHO had responded by proclaiming the international health emergency. So far, more than 3,000 people have contracted Ebola outbreaks since the outbreak, and more than 2,000 have died.
The Ebola virus was first registered in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1976 and is named after a river there. The infected people suffer from fever, muscle pain, diarrhea, as well as internal bleeding and eventually organ failure.