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Thanks to the efforts of the DRC's Ministry of Health and WHO, nearly 220,000 people have been vaccinated with rVSV-ZEBOV, an experimental vaccine produced by Merck that has shown very high levels of efficacy. high. However, this number remains largely insufficient, as shown by the fact that the epidemic continues to return to areas supposedly covered by vaccination.
Vaccination – especially health workers – can be strengthened
"We believe that it is necessary and feasible to accelerate the pace of immunization: at least 2,000 to 2,500 people could be vaccinated each day, instead of 500 to 1,000 people, as is the case. is currently the case, "says Dr. Isabelle Defourny, MSF's Director of Operations. "We have a vaccine that has proven safe and effective; we have teams ready to be deployed; there is no problem with the cold chain; there are enough doses to cover current needs and allow for an extension of vaccine coverage, as recently confirmed by the vaccine manufacturer Merck; and when people are aware of the vaccine, the vast majority of them want to be vaccinated. "
"However, WHO restricts the availability of vaccine in the field and the eligibility criteria for people to be vaccinated for obscure reasons," says Dr. Defourny. "Even for front-line health workers – a well-known and easily accessible population – among the outbreaks such as Beni, nearly a third of them said they Had not been vaccinated. "
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