The shootings 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 that in addition to the 11,000 jabs expected to land in Geneva, another 8,600 will be shipped from the United States.
Speaking to reporters at the same press briefing, Mohamed Lamine Yansane, senior adviser to Guinea’s health minister, said the vaccines would be distributed immediately to begin the vaccination campaign on Monday.
“We are strongly supported by the experience gained during the first wave of the Ebola epidemic,” Yansane said, referring to the outbreak that lasted from 2013-16.
Guinea declared an Ebola epidemic on February 14 after seven people fell ill with diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a funeral in Goueke, near the Liberian border. So far, five people have died from the disease.
Authorities and international organizations are stepping in quickly to help Guinea prevent further spread of the disease, with more than 100 experts expected to be on the scene by the end of the month, according to Moeti.
The UN health expert also stressed that “it is not at all likely” that Guinea will experience a situation similar to that during the previous Ebola outbreak, thanks to the country’s ability to respond in the past and rapid coordination with other African countries. .
The current outbreak is the first since a 2013-2016 epidemic – which began in Guinea – killed 11,300 people in West Africa. Most cases were in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
As the first case detected was in a neighboring area, Moeti said neighboring countries are on high alert for possible cross-border infections.
On Sunday, the President of Liberia, George Weah, ordered the health authorities to increase the country’s surveillance and preventive activities following the outbreak in the neighboring country.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone has sent workers to monitor border crossings in coordination with Guinean authorities, a health ministry spokesman said.
Guinea’s fire was declared a week after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported a recurrence of the virus in Butembo, the epicenter of a previous outbreak that was declared in June last year. The country began an Ebola vaccination campaign on Monday.
The 2013-2016 spread accelerated the development of the Ebola vaccine, with a global emergency stockpile of 500,000 doses planned to respond quickly to future outbreaks, Gavi told The Vaccine Alliance in January.