A shortage of syringes is complicating efforts to vaccinate people against yellow fever in the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite the delivery of more than 1 million doses of yellow fever vaccine, according to Reuters.
Last month, Congo's government declared a yellow fever epidemic in the capital of Kinshasa and two other provinces near the border of Angola.
The World Health Organization estimates 1,400 suspected cases of yellow fever in Congo caused 82 deaths. In mid-June, there were 1,000 suspected cases with 71 deaths.
WHO plans to start a vaccination campaign in the providence of Kwango on July 20.
Almost 1.1 million doses of the vaccine have been delivered to the country. Congo has about 4 million syringes, but needs 10 million, according to Eugene Kabambi, WHO's spokesperson in Congo. He declined to state when more doses would be delivered.
Health officials plan to wait until more syringes are obtained before starting the vaccination campaign to avoid potential threats to public safety and order that could arise if they start vaccinating at only one location.
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