The global stockpile of Ebola vaccines can be used to regularly protect frontline health workers in high-risk countries, not just as an emergency measure in the event of an outbreak, the international organization said on Thursday of Gavi vaccines.
A stockpile of half a million doses of Ebola vaccine was stockpiled by Gavi and other global health partners in 2019 for use during outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever, which has an average mortality rate of around 60%. About 11,000 people died in West Africa’s 2014-2016 outbreak, the largest on record.
Although very deadly, Ebola epidemics are relatively rare. About 208,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, made by Merck, were due to expire this year if not used, although some countries have already received doses for preventative campaigns, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. Today, about 120,000 doses are near expiration.
Gavi said it would fund routine preventive use of Ervebo for high-risk countries, including transport and vaccination costs, after the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended last month to use it in this way. Vaccines also remain available in the event of an epidemic outbreak.
The WHO also supported the preventive use, for high-risk groups, of the other Ebola vaccine, Zabdeno, made by Johnson & Johnson, with a booster dose, Mvabea, made by Bavarian Nordic. This vaccine is currently not in stock. Both vaccines target the Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, rather than the Sudanese strain that caused an outbreak in Uganda in 2022.
Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s chief executive, said the stockpile had already helped reduce the number of Ebola cases and deaths during outbreaks and could now protect those most at risk from this terrible disease which can devastate entire communities.
Gavi also said it would help low-income countries add a number of other vaccines to their routine programs.
These include the introduction of a birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine, a new vaccine protecting against five strains of meningococcal meningitis, and the use of the rabies vaccine for protection post-exposure. The plans, including preventative Ebola vaccination, were all approved by the Gavis board before the COVID-19 conference, but they were delayed by the pandemic and other factors. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby; Writing by Alex Richardson and Rod Nickel)
