Vaccination of frontline health workers and contacts of people infected with Ebola virus disease has begun in Bulape health zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Kasai Province where an outbreak of the disease has been declared.

An initial 400 doses of the Ervebo Ebola vaccine—from the country’s stockpile of 2000 doses prepositioned in the capital Kinshasa—have been delivered to Bulape, one of the current hotspots of the outbreak. Additional doses will be delivered to the affected localities in the coming days.

The vaccine is being administered through ring vaccination strategy, which entails vaccinating individuals at highest risk of infection after having come into contact with a patient confirmed with the virus. It is also recommended for health care and frontline workers responding to the outbreak who may be in contact with Ebola patients. The Ervebo vaccine is safe and protects against the Zaire ebolavirus species, which has been confirmed as the cause of the ongoing outbreak.