Kinshasa, 17 August - A yellow fever preventive mass vaccination campaign was launched on Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Minister of Health Dr Felix Kabange Numbi. The vaccination will cover more than 10.5 million people in 32 health zones in Kinshasa province and an additional 15 health zones bordering Angola.

DRC has already vaccinated some 3 million people during an initial campaign covering some districts in Kinshasa, Kongo Centrale and Kwango provinces to-date. 

“The next ten days will mark one of the largest emergency yellow fever vaccination campaigns ever undertaken in Africa", said Dr Yokouide Allarangar, WHO Representative in DRC. "More than 2400 vaccination teams are being deployed in Kinshasa province alone."

WHO and partners have deployed hundreds of experts to assist the national response, especially in the areas of epidemiology, vaccination, diagnosis, clinical care, logistics, social mobilization and risk communication.

“This is a highly complex logistical undertaking to help us stop the outbreak in both densely populated urban areas in the country’s capital and hard-to-reach border areas", said Dr Ibrahima Socé Fall, Regional Emergencies Director for WHO’s Africa Region. "We need to protect the people most at risk before the rainy season begins.” 

WHO and partners have supported the government to pre-position millions of vaccines, syringes and other supplies and to deploy national and international experts to carry out the vaccinations in all the targeted districts of the country.

With limited global supplies of the vaccine, and a 6-month minimum manufacturing process, WHO has been working with the Ministry of Health of DRC to implement the mass vaccination campaign using one-fifth of the standard vaccine dose as a short-term emergency measure in Kinshasa to reach as many people as possible. 

This method, known as fractional dosing, was recommended by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) following a review of existing evidence that demonstrated lower doses would protect people safely and effectively against the disease for at least 12 months, and likely much longer. The fractional dose will not entitle people to travel internationally, but it will protect them from yellow fever during this outbreak and help stop the disease from spreading further.

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For media enquiries, please contact: 

Mr Eugene Karamba, Communications Officer, WHO-DRC
Email: kabambie [at] who.int; Phone: +243 81 715  1697 

Ms Ebba Kalondo, Communications Officer, WHO-AFRO
Email: kalondoe [at] who.int; Phone: +243 99171425

Ms Alison Clements-Hunt, Communications Officer, WHO-HQ
Email: clementshuntal [at] who.int