00:01The Democratic Republic of Congo has begun vaccinating people against Ebola as authorities
00:07raised to contain the country's deadliest outbreak of the disease on record. The campaign was launched
00:13on Thursday in Kasigani, the capital of Chokpo province, with health care workers and others
00:19on the front lines among the force to receive the vaccine.
00:26In collaboration with our technical and financial partners, and after consulting with our leading
00:32scientists, we have decided to use the tried and true available vaccine to first protect
00:37those on the front lines, our health care providers, but also to move on to the people who have
00:47had significant contact with patients so that we can protect them as well. And finally,
00:52if all of this is formally confirmed, we're going to expand the vaccine rollout to include
00:59all at-risk individuals. To date, we have received more than 50,000 doses of vaccine,
01:05so we're going to begin this vaccination effort.
01:12The outbreak has spread across six provinces, including Chokpo, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu,
01:17Otweli, and Baoweli. Government figures show that more than 5,700 confirmed cases and 2,700 deaths,
01:26with a fatality rate of about 48% among confirmed cases.
