In about two weeks, Uganda would deploy the experimental Ebola vaccines to prevent the further spread of the virus in the country.
WHO Representative in Uganda, Dr Yonas Tegegn Woldemariam made the disclosure while speaking to newsmen.
Also, Woldemariam noted that potentially hundreds of thousands of trial vaccine doses will buttress a response effort that still must focus on tracing Ebola contacts and community engagement.
He explained, “We are getting closer and closer to deploying vaccines. This is a study. This is just another tool that we are going to try.
“Vaccines developed by the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute and Oxford University are ready to be shipped to Uganda, which is finalizing protocols for the study before the National Drug Authority issues import permits”.
The Oxford vaccine is being produced by the Serum Institute of India, which has indicated it can eventually make hundreds of thousands of doses available.
Recall that Uganda declared an outbreak of Ebola on Sept. 20, several days after the contagious disease began spreading in a rural farming community. A lockdown and nighttime curfew measures are now in place in the outbreak’s epicentre, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) west of the capital, Kampala.
