WHO and Africa CDC Secure 70,000 Ervebo Doses for DRC as Phase 3 Bundibugyo Trial Nears Launch

WHO and Africa CDC announced on 20 August 2026 that the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision approved immediate release of 70,000 doses of Merck's Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccine to the DRC: 20,000 doses earmarked for a Phase 3 clinical trial testing cross-protection against the Bundibugyo virus driving the outbreak, and 50,000 doses for frontline and health workers. Ervebo is licensed against Zaire ebolavirus, not Bundibugyo virus, and WHO cautioned 'it is not known whether Ervebo may be protective against the Bundibugyo virus in humans,' though early laboratory and animal data suggest it may offer some protection. Since the ICG mechanism's 2021 establishment, over 56,000 Ervebo doses have been allocated for DRC Ebola outbreaks combined, plus 167,000 doses used in preventive campaigns across DRC, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Uganda. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the allocation 'an important example of global solidarity in action.'