The second meeting of the Emergency Committee (EC) regarding yellow fever was convened by the Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR 2005) by teleconference on 31 August 2016, from 13:00 to 17:30  Central European Time.

The WHO Secretariat briefed the Committee on the status of, and response to, the outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on other countries reporting international spread or at high risk, and provided an update on the status of the global stockpile of yellow fever vaccine.

The yellow fever vaccine given as one fifth of the regular dose could be used to control an outbreak in case of vaccine shortages.

Experts agreed with this proposal at a meeting convened by WHO to consider potential shortages in yellow fever vaccine due to the outbreak in Angola and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization reviewed existing evidence that demonstrates that using a fifth of a standard vaccine dose would still provide protection against the disease for at least 12 months and possibly much longer.