In the shadow of the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in recorded history, the Democratic Republic of Congo has begun vaccinating fifty thousand frontline health workers in Ituri and North Kivu provinces with a tool designed for a different enemy. The Ervebo vaccine, developed against the Zaire strain, is being deployed under compassionate-use authorization against the Bundibugyo variant — a strain it was never built to fight — because no alternative exists. With 3,639 lives already lost since May, this campaign is less a solution than a covenant between necessity and hope: a carefully monitored
DRC deploys Ebola vaccine for health workers amid record outbreak
The Ebola outbreak has killed at least 3,639 people and infected 7,541 since May, with health workers facing particular exposure and risk.