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GENEVA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said one of the largest emergency vaccination campaigns ever attempted in Africa will start in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this week.
A yellow fever outbreak in Africa has so far killed more than 400 people and sickened thousands more.
WHO is coordinating between 56 global partners to vaccinate more than 14 million people against yellow fever in over 8,000 locations. The yellow fever outbreak has found its way to dense, urban areas and hard-to-reach border regions, making planning for the vaccination campaign especially complex.
According to WHO, emergency yellow fever vaccination campaigns have already reached more than 13 million people in Angola and more than 3 million in DRC. These campaigns have been crucial to stopping the spread of the outbreak.
However, some areas are still considered at high risk and so preventive vaccination campaigns are planned for the capital city of Kinshasa in DRC and along the country's border with Angola.
WHO noted Kinshasa has more than 10 million people, with only 2 million already vaccinated against yellow fever. With local transmission of the virus and low immunity in the population, there is a potential risk that the deadly outbreak could spread to other urban areas.
The preventive vaccination campaign aims to build protection in the population perceived to be at high risk of getting infected and prevent potential spread and expansion of the current outbreak.
With limited supplies of the vaccine, and a 6-month minimum manufacturing process, WHO has been working with ministries of health to plan the mass vaccination campaign that uses one-fifth of the standard vaccine dose as a short-term emergency measure to reach as many people as possible.
"Protecting as many people as possible is at the heart of this strategy. With a limited supply we need to use these vaccines very carefully," said William Perea, coordinator for the Control of Epidemic Diseases Unit at WHO.
