By RFIPosted on 13-10-2019Modified on 13-10-2019 at 08:15

The DRC has chosen to introduce a second experimental vaccine to try to stem the spread of the Ebola virus that has already killed at least 2146 people. The first doses should arrive in the country on October 18 and be administered as early as November. It is the boss of the response team, Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who announced it yesterday Saturday in Kinshasa.

This vaccination will concern the inhabitants of two districts of Goma, in the east of the country. The introduction of this second vaccine caused the ire of Dr. Oly Ilunga, Minister of Health until July 2019. He warned President Felix Tshisekedi against the consortium that promotes this vaccine, produced by the American company Johnson & Johnson.

Saturday in Kinshasa, the boss of the Riposte, who participates in this consortium, was reassuring. For Dr. Muyembe, it is crucial to vaccinate a certain category of population in Goma even if there are more new cases Ebola in this city since mid-July. " There are already two communes that have been chosen, in Goma ... where there are many citizens of Beni, Butembo, etc. It is therefore a common risk. Certainly, we will also extend this vaccination to our small traders who go to Rwanda for small business .

But for now, a million and a half doses should be provided to the DRC. A massive vaccination is feared by some observers in view of the serious side effects mentioned for about 3% of people vaccinated in the clinical trial protocol provided by the consortium to the Congolese state last May: for Dr. Jean -Jacques Muyembe, we must not take it into account.

" This vaccine has been used in Guinea for two or three years now. It has never been said that there were undesirable side effects. In Uganda too, they used this vaccine. So far, I have not seen a scientific report that talks about serious side effects. I confirm that this is a false document, it should not be [considered] .

The former Ministry of Health team had also alerted the administration of this vaccine: two doses administered 56 days apart in a highly mobile area. What should be one of the challenges of the response.

► See also : DRC resorts to second Ebola vaccine

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