The launch of a vaccination campaign aimed at preventing health workers in Africa from contracting the Ebola virus in the line of duty is underway, a senior official from GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, said.
NAIROBI, June 15 (Xinhua) — The launch of a vaccination campaign aimed at preventing health workers in Africa from contracting the Ebola virus in the line of duty is underway, a senior GAVI official said. the Vaccine Alliance.
Francisco Luquero, head of high-impact outbreaks at GAVI, said vaccinating frontline workers in African countries where Ebola is endemic would be a giant step in reducing the number of cases and deaths linked to this disease. highly infectious disease.
“Our new program aims to ensure the protection of this specific population of frontline workers who will be involved in responding to future outbreaks,” Luquero told Xinhua in a virtual interview in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Friday. evening.
According to Mr. Luquero, GAVI will rely on the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) to advise African states threatened by the Ebola virus on how to put in place structures to facilitate the vaccination of staff health.
Some health workers have been vaccinated with doses from the global stockpile, according to Mr. Luquero, who adds that Guinea-Bissau, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have carried out this exercise in the recent past.
He said preventive Ebola vaccination targeting health service providers would be based on the recommendations of the WHO-affiliated Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE).
 GAVI to launch preventive Ebola vaccine for health workers in Africa – Xinhua){kind=link}