STORY: The Democratic Republic of Congo received more than 16,000 doses of an Ebola vaccine on Friday (August 21), as authorities step up vaccination efforts against an outbreak that has infected more than 5,000 people and killed more than 2,300, Health Minister Roger Kamba said.

Kamba said the government had decided to add vaccination to existing measures including surveillance and treatment as the outbreak continues to spread.

"The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing a very serious Ebola outbreak," Kamba said, adding that public health measures needed to be accompanied by medical interventions.

Congo's 17th Ebola epidemic became the biggest in the country's history in terms of the number of cases in late July, surpassing the previous worst outbreak in 2018 to 2020.

It is caused by the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which has no approved vaccines or treatments.

Health authorities have faced intense community transmission, deaths outside treatment centres and attacks and other disruptions affecting the response.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been allocated 70,000 doses of Merck's Ervebo vaccine for Ebola, the World Health Organization said on Thursday, as the country attempts to contain its biggest-ever outbreak of the deadly disease.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

SHOWS: KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (AUGUST 21, 2026) (CONGO HEALTH MINISTRY - Access all) (NIGHT SHOTS)

1. (MUTE) AIRPORT WORKER COVERING EBOLA VACCINE CARTONS WITH NETTING AFTER UNLOADING FROM AIRCRAFT

2. (MUTE) EBOLA VACCINE SHIPMENT BEING TRANSPORTED

3. (MUTE) CONGOLESE OFFICIALS INSPECTING EBOLA VACCINE SHIPMENT ON ARRIVAL

4. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CONGOLESE MINISTER OF HEALTH, ROGER KAMBA, SAYING:

"The Democratic Republic of the Congo is facing a very serious Ebola outbreak, an outbreak that has already claimed the lives of hundreds and hundreds of our fellow citizens. We are already at more than 2,300 people who have died, and an outbreak that has already affected more than 5,000 people. And we have realized that public health measures alone must be accompanied by other measures, particularly medical interventions."

5. (MUTE) AIRPORT WORKERS REMOVING PROTECTIVE COVER FROM VACCINE SHIPMENT / OFFICIALS LOOKING AT BOXES OF EBOLA VACCINES

6. (MUTE) VARIOUS OF CONGOLESE MINISTER OF HEALTH, ROGER KAMBA, INSPECTING BOXES OF EBOLA VACCINES

7. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CONGOLESE MINISTER OF HEALTH, ROGER KAMBA, SAYING:

"In our planning, we decided, with the advice of scientists, to use the ERVEBO vaccine, the vaccine that we all know, which has already been used several times, and particularly on a large scale during the 2018 to 2020 outbreak. After listening to all the scientists, we decided to use this vaccine, knowing that there will be two phases: a research phase and a compassionate use phase. The research phase involves 20,000 doses, and the compassionate use phase involves 50,000 doses."

8. (MUTE) AIRPORT WORKER COVERING VACCINE SHIPMENT WITH PROTECTIVE TARP

9. (SOUNDBITE) (French) CONGOLESE MINISTER OF HEALTH, ROGER KAMBA, SAYING:

"Knowing that we already had 2,000 doses that had already been sent to Tshopo. Now we are receiving 16,000 doses, for a total of more than 400,000 doses that we have requested. And so, we thank all the partners who helped us obtain these vaccine doses, and we will indeed strengthen the response mechanism with these vaccines."

10. (MUTE) OFFICIALS LOOKING AT AIRPORT WORKER SECURING VACCINE SHIPMENT WITH NETTING