DRC Launches Ebola Vaccination Campaign for Frontline Workers Under Compassionate-Use Framework

DRC Health Minister Roger Kamba launched an Ervebo (rVSV-ZEBOV) vaccination campaign on Thursday, 27 August 2026 in Kisangani, capital of Tshopo province, to protect frontline responders against the country's worst-ever Ebola outbreak. 'We have decided to use the Ervebo vaccine to protect first those who are on the front line, therefore our health care providers, but also people who have been in contact with patients,' Kamba said. The rollout covers 14 health zones across Tshopo, Bas-Uélé and Haut-Uélé provinces, drawing on the 50,000 doses (of 70,000 allocated by the ICG on 20 August) set aside for frontline and health workers, distinct from the separate 20,000-dose Phase 3 clinical trial testing cross-protection against Bundibugyo virus. The vaccine is being administered under a compassionate-use framework rather than as a fully licensed indication, since Ervebo is approved against Zaire ebolavirus, not the Bundibugyo strain driving this outbreak.