A global stockpile of Ebola vaccines will now be used to protect frontline health workers in high-risk countries on a routine basis, rather than solely during outbreaks, according to international vaccine group Gavi.
The stockpile, consisting of half-a-million doses of the Ebola vaccine, was established by Gavi and other global health partners in 2019 for use in outbreaks of haemorrhagic fever. This disease has an average fatality rate of approximately 60%. The 2014-16 outbreak in West Africa, the largest ever, resulted in around 11,000 deaths.
Despite its high mortality rate, Ebola outbreaks are relatively rare. Around 208,000 doses of the stockpiled Ervebo vaccine, produced by Merck, were set to expire this year if unused. Some countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, have already received doses for preventative campaigns. Currently, around 120,000 doses are close to expiry.
Gavi announced that it will fund the routine preventative use of Ervebo for high-risk countries, covering transport and vaccination costs. This decision follows the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation last month to use the vaccine preventatively. The vaccines will also remain available for outbreak responses.
The WHO also supported the preventative use of another Ebola vaccine, Zabdeno, made by Johnson & Johnson, alongside a booster dose, Mvabea, made by Bavarian Nordic. This vaccine is not part of the current stockpile. Both vaccines target the Ebola Zaire strain, not the Sudan strain, which caused an outbreak in Uganda in 2022.
Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s chief executive, stated that the stockpile has already reduced Ebola cases and deaths during outbreaks. She added that it could now protect those at highest risk from this “terrible disease that can devastate entire communities.”
Gavi also plans to support lower-income countries in incorporating several other vaccines into their routine programs. These include introducing a dose of the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, a new vaccine protecting against five strains of meningococcal meningitis, and the use of the rabies vaccine for post-exposure protection. These plans, including the preventative Ebola vaccination, were approved by Gavi’s board before COVID-19 but were delayed by the pandemic and other factors
