Save the Children said there are only 7 million emergency vaccines after stocks were depleted in a series of outbreaks earlier this year.The vaccines take a year to make so it will take a lot of time to produce in large quantities.
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And since the announcement of the yellow fever initiative in 2006, we managed to vaccinate more than 100 million people, especially in Western Africa. Seven provinces have confirmed yellow fever, 56 cases of which came from Angola.
But supplies of the vaccine are limited. The WHO said fractional dosing will likely confer at least 1-year immunity to recipients, as opposed to lifelong immunity provided by the standard vaccine.
The outbreak has resulted in global reserves of the yellow fever vaccine being refilled twice since the beginning of the year, and supplies of the vaccine remain limited due to the six-month manufacturing process.
Save The Children has warned the outbreak could soon spread to the Americas, Asia and Europe and elsewhere in Africa.
There is no cure for yellow fever.
“There are 17.3 million syringes that have to be shipped or air freighted to Democratic Republic of Congo; 41,000 health workers and volunteers have been mobilized with more than 500 vehicles to operate between more than 8,000 vaccination sites in Kinshasa and along the border”, said Jasarevic.
Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, is a major focus point for World Health Organization; officials warn that it could be the gateway to a global epidemic.
A Congolese child is vaccinated during an emergency campaign of vaccination against yellow fever in the Kisenso district of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
Yellow fever usually occurs in remote rural areas where people are routinely vaccinated against the disease.
However, around 15% of people go on to develop more serious problems, including jaundice yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes, kidney failure and bleeding from the mouth, nose, eyes or stomach which causes blood in your vomit and stools.
Makeshift clinics in churches and schools opened across the densely populated city of over 10 million and in other areas bordering Angola, part of a World Health Organization-led (WHO) campaign against an epidemic that has mostly affected Angola.
“We’ve got to urgently reach as many children and families as we can with the supplies that are left, and this is the only way we are able to do that right now”.
Has there been enough engagement of local communities in the two countries in order for the vaccination exercise to end successfully before the rainy season begins? Once infected, people often fall ill with fever and muscle pain, but many recover after several days.
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Save the Children says yellow fever has claimed almost 500 lives, with thousands of suspected cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Angola.
