Sierra Leone will begin vaccinating frontline health workers against Ebola in areas near its border with Guinea where the disease re-emerged in January.
Health Minister Austin Demby remarked in a statement that U.S. drugs firm Johnson & Johnson would supply 640 doses of its Ebola vaccine on Saturday and 3,840 doses on Sunday as donations.
In view of the ongoing outbreak of Ebola in neighboring Guinea, frontline healthcare workers in border districts are at risk of infection just in case the virus spills over to Sierra Leone,”
The deadly virus reappeared in Guinea in January, evoking the spectres of the devastating 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, which left 11,300 dead in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
In January, 23 cases were reported in Guinea, mainly in the Nzerekore region, near Liberia, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast.
World Health Organization confirmed sixteen cases including five deaths. In February, Guinea received more than 11,000 doses of Merck’s vaccine provided by the WHO, but measures taken to stop infections, isolate and treat patients and carry out vaccinations sometimes meet resistance from residents.
Ebola, which is transmitted through close contact with bodily fluids, causes severe fever and, in worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.