Despite the remarkable results, officials at the WHO believe the effectiveness of the vaccine is likely to end up being between 75% and 100%.
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He also said, “With such high efficacy, all affected countries should immediately expand vaccination of contacts of infected patients in order to break chains of transmission and vaccinate all front-line workers to protect them”. More than 4,000 individuals have voluntarily received the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine as part of the Phase 3 trial which began in March, according to Merck.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that this vaccine could be “the” thing that everyone was waiting for as far as Ebola is concerned.
“We are really focused on doing everything we can to contribute and help in any material way that we can for the crisis in Africa”, Link said on a conference call Friday to discuss earnings.
The vaccine is licensed to Ames-based NewLink Genetics, a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies to fight cancer.
An outbreak of the virus resulted in more than 11,000 people dying in the sub-Saharan nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea.
A clinical trial was carried out in Guinea in which thousands of patients who were exposed by Ebola were given the vaccine right away or after three week.
As of now, there are still other vaccines being tested, notably from Johnson&Johnson and GSK, although the trial period is becoming increasingly hard as the number of Ebola cases continue to dwindle.
“Indeed, no vaccine developed symptoms more than six days after vaccination, irrespective of whether vaccination was immediate or delayed”, said the study paper. The vaccine will also be tested on frontline workers. Talking about the vaccine WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Margaret Chan said, ” If proven effective, this is going to be a game-changer. It aims to create a sort of firewall around sickened people by vaccinating the contacts around them.
Vaccinated individuals have been shown to develop antibodies against the Ebola virus, which could help protect against future infection.
Speaking alongside him was Chan, who said her agency was working to reform itself – especially by establishing an emergency arm that would operate independently.
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The trial, which was supported by the drug firm Merck, the WHO and the Canadian, Norwegian and Guinean governments, is now continuing in children between the ages of 13 and 17.
