A vaccination campaign against yellow fever in Congo’s capital is almost complete, but the gains may be stymied by the looming rainy season and the spread of the disease to areas where people have not yet been vaccinated, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.
Health officials began a campaign to vaccinate 7.5 million people in Kinshasa last week to combat the worst outbreak in decades of the hemorrhagic virus. More than 400 people have died in Congo and neighboring Angola since December, Reuters reported. As of Thursday, 91.3% of the target population, in Kinshasa was vaccinated, WHO said in a weekly report. About 2 million people were vaccinated in May and July.
The campaign wrapped up on Friday, but health workers will continue over the coming days to seek out individuals they missed, said WHO Congo spokesman, Eugene Kabambi.
“We had to resolve this before the rains ... It’s a big success,” Kabambi said.
