Importation of doses of V920 for Emergency Use

The V920 candidate vaccine is currently being deployed under ring vaccination using the Expanded Access/Compassionate Use protocol as recommended by WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts. V920 is also currently under regulatory review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for active immunization of at-risk individuals 18 years of age and older to protect against Zaire Ebola virus disease (Marketing Authorisation Application according to Regulation (EC) 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 laying down Community procedures for the authorisation and supervision of medicinal products for human and veterinary use and establishing a European Medicines Agency). Awaiting authorization from EMA, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) requested to receive doses of V920 in Belgium to support vaccination of local health care workers to be deployed in the DRC, where an outbreak of Ebola virus disease is currently ongoing. MSD plans to ship V920 doses from the United States to a reference hospital in Brussels where the vaccination will take place. About five health care workers should be vaccinated per week. After the vaccination, the patient should stay for 30 minutes under surveillance and then leave the reference hospital without quarantine measures. The health care workers will then be deployed to the field in an epidemic zone, sometimes already within 48 hours of vaccination.