The shots are expected to arrive on Sunday and the vaccination campaign could begin on Monday.
More than 11,000 Ebola vaccines are expected to arrive in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, on Sunday after the country declared an Ebola outbreak last week.
The regional director of the World Health Organization for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, told reporters on Thursday that in addition to the 11,000 jabs that are expected to land from Geneva, another 8,600 will be sent from the United States.
Mohamed Lamine Yansane, a senior adviser to Guinea’s health minister, told reporters during the same press release that vaccinations would be distributed immediately to begin the vaccination campaign as early as Monday.
“We are strongly supported by the experience gained during the first wave of the Ebola epidemic,” Yansane said, referring to the outbreak that lasted from 2013-16.
Guinea declared an Ebola epidemic on February 14 after seven people became ill with diarrhea, vomiting and bleeding after attending a funeral in Goueke, near the Liberian border. So far, five people have died from the disease.
Authorities and international organizations are moving fast to help Guinea avoid further spread of the disease. According to Moeti, more than 100 experts will be on the ground by the end of the month.
UN health experts also stressed that it was “not at all likely” that Guinea would experience a similar situation as during the previous Ebola outbreak, thanks to the country’s response capacity built up from the past, and rapid coordination with other African countries.
The current outbreak is the first since a 2013-2016 epidemic – which began in Guinea – left 11,300 dead in West Africa. Most cases were in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Since the first case was spotted in a border area, Moeti said neighboring countries are at the utmost preparedness for possible cross-border infections.
Liberian President George Weah on Sunday ordered health authorities to increase the country’s surveillance and preventive activities following the outbreak in its neighboring country.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone has sent workers to look at the border points in cooperation with the Guinean authorities, a health ministry spokesman said.
The outbreak of Guinea was declared a week after the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported a revival of the virus in Butembo, the centerpiece of a previous outbreak declared last June. The country launched an Ebola vaccination campaign on Monday.
The 2013-2016 spread accelerated the development of the Ebola vaccine, with a worldwide emergency supply of 500,000 doses planned to respond quickly to future outbreaks, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance said in January.