Ebola Vaccine Will Be Provided to Women Who Are Pregnant, Marking Reversal in Policy
February 20, 2019
(STAT News) – Women who are pregnant and lactating, as well as children under the age of 1, will be offered access to an experimental Ebola vaccine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, officials said Wednesday, marking the reversal of a controversial policy that had drawn fire from public health experts. The decision was made by a committee advising the Congolese Ministry of Health, but received the support of the World Health Organization. The decision to exclude pregnant women from the vaccination program sparked blowback from some experts, with some calling the policy “indefensible.”