Ebola vaccine faces obstacles in Congo

Authorities in Congo began an ambitious campaign this week to use a pioneering Ebola vaccine to help stem a growing outbreak of the deadly virus. It’s the first widespread use of the therapeutic since a devastating 2014 epidemic in West Africa and represents a major strategic shift for public health.

World Health Organization officials, criticized for their slow response four years ago, began vaccinating health workers in affected areas Monday and plan to vaccinate about 1,000 people in the next week.

More than 7,500 doses have been sent to Congo, and an additional 8,000 doses will be available in the coming days, according to the WHO.

But enormous challenges lie ahead as officials and others race against the virus to identify people in the high-risk groups being targeted for vaccination,

“No one should underestimate how challenging this all is or expect the vaccine to be the answer to everything,” said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, a British-based global charitable foundation.

The vaccine, which proved highly effective in trials in Guinea and Sierra Leone toward the end of the West Africa epidemic, is considered an investigational therapeutic and not yet licensed.

It is being provided at no charge by pharmaceutical giant Merck, while Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is providing $1 million toward the deployment of health workers, transport and other support.

The effort’s operational and cultural logistics are formidable.

One of the biggest lessons from the West Africa epidemic was the importance of gaining the trust of affected communities by relying on respected village elders and traditional healers.

“You have to get that trust in the first five seconds,” said Dan Lucey, a Georgetown University infectious disease specialist who worked in Sierra Leone and Liberia during the 2014 epidemic.

Congolese health officials have said health care will be free as a way to encourage people to seek medical care if they are sick.