Ebola-Hit Guinea Begins Vaccination Campaign - WHO

Guinea began a campaign on Tuesday to vaccinate at-risk people against Ebola, more than a week after the West African nation reported the first deaths from the viral disease, the World Health Organization said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd February, 2021) Guinea began a campaign on Tuesday to vaccinate at-risk people against Ebola, more than a week after the West African nation reported the first deaths from the viral disease, the World Health Organization said.

"The last time Guinea faced an Ebola outbreak, vaccines were still being developed ... With the experience and expertise it has built up, combined with safe and effective vaccines, Guinea has the tools and the know-how to respond to this outbreak," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

More than 11,000 doses of the vaccine arrived in Guinea on Monday.

The WHO is in talks to buy 8,500 doses from US pharma giant Merck. Medical workers and people who have come in close contact with confirmed Ebola patients will be first in line to receive a shot.

Guinea declared an Ebola outbreak in the rural community of Goueke near the country's second-largest city of Nzerekore on February 14, after at least three people died.

The previous outbreak began in roughly the same region in late 2013. It went on to infect more than 28,000 people and claim over 11,000 lives across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.