Democratic Republic of the Congo: DR Congo receives 1st batch of Ebola vaccine doses as outbreak kills over 2,500.

Shotlist Kinshasa, DR Congo - Aug 21, 2026 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland) 1. N'djili International Airport, national flags of DR Congo 2. Various of staff unloading vaccines 3. Samuel Roger Kamba, Health Minister of DR Congo, receiving vaccines at airport, other officials 4. SOUNDBITE (French) Samuel Roger Kamba, DRC Health Minister: "Today we are receiving the first batch of more than 16,000 doses, knowing that we already had 2,000 doses that have already been sent to Tshopo. We are receiving 16,000 doses for a total of more than 400,000 doses that we have requested. We thank all the partners who helped us obtain these vaccine doses. We will indeed strengthen the response mechanism with these vaccines." 5. Various of staff unloading vaccines 6. Samuel Roger Kamba receiving vaccines 7. Label on vaccine packaging 8. SOUNDBITE (French) Samuel Roger Kamba, DRC Health Minister: "As part of our planning and based on scientific advice, we have decided to use the Ervebo vaccine, a vaccine we are all familiar with and that has been used on several occasions, particularly on a very large scale during the 2018-2020 outbreak. We have decided, after consulting with all the scientists, to use these vaccines, knowing that there will be two phases: a research phase involving 20,000 doses and a compassionate use phase involving 50,000 doses." 9. Staff unloading vaccines Storyline The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Friday received the first batch of Ebola vaccine doses as it steps up efforts to contain the ongoing outbreak that has infected more than 5,000 people and killed over 2,500. A total of 16,520 doses of the Ervebo vaccine arrived at the N'djili International Airport in the capital Kinshasa, according to the DRC health ministry. A total of 50,120 doses are expected to arrive between Aug 21 and 24, the ministry said. The World Health Organization and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision had approved an immediate initial release of 70,000 doses of Ervebo following a request from the DRC government. Samuel Roger Kamba, Health Minister of the country, expressed his gratitude to all the partners who helped the DRC obtain these vaccines. "Today we are receiving the first batch of more than 16,000 doses, knowing that we already had 2,000 doses that have already been sent to Tshopo. We are receiving 16,000 doses for a total of more than 400,000 doses that we have requested. We thank all the partners who helped us obtain these vaccine doses. We will indeed strengthen the response mechanism with these vaccines," said the minister. Ervebo is licensed and recommended for outbreaks caused by Zaire ebolavirus, but its effectiveness against the Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the current outbreak, remains uncertain. "As part of our planning and based on scientific advice, we have decided to use the Ervebo vaccine, a vaccine we are all familiar with and that has been used on several occasions, particularly on a very large scale during the 2018-2020 outbreak. We have decided, after consulting with all the scientists, to use these vaccines, knowing that there will be two phases: a research phase involving 20,000 doses and a compassionate use phase involving 50,000 doses," said Kamba. As of Aug 19, the DRC had recorded 5,290 confirmed cases and 2,516 deaths, with a case fatality rate of 47.6 percent, according to the latest government situation report released on Friday. The DRC declared the current Ebola outbreak on May 15. It has since become the country's largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic on record and the second-largest globally.