ebola mrna vaccine trials
With no way to know which scenario they were facing, the doctors monitoring the researcher transferred her into a specially erected bio-containment treatment unit. Both the template and transcript can be produced in the laboratory using materials that are readily accessible. TheWHO's trial involved vaccinating contacts of people with Ebola virus disease and contacts of those contacts on an immediate or delayed vaccination schedule. Judie did that. Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, Associate Professor at the Jenner Institute and Lead Scientific Investigator, University of Oxford, said: The 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa cost more than 11,000 lives and had a catastrophic effect on healthcare systems. And of course the mice were completely protected after a single dose.. Once allowed to dry, the patches can be stored at room temperature . Already, mRNA vaccines are being tested for other infectious agents, such as Ebola, Zika virus, and influenza. Moderna is exploring applications of the technology to protect against HIV. While many hurdles remain and the 3D printer is likely years away from becoming available, experts hailed the "exciting" finding. Some cancer drugs work immunologically by destroying cancer cells, so mRNA vaccines could work together with other methods to help the body control a cancer," Levin said. The design and manufacturing of mRNA-based vaccines on a clinical scale is possible within weeks from the time the antigenic sequence becomes available. Postdocal Fellows to the Department of Biochemistry, Postdoctoral Research Associate - Developmental Neurobiology, Postdoctoral Research Associate - Hematology. To obtain Bookshelf The earlier trials were to determine if the vaccine was safe to administer; the Phase 3s would tell the world if it actually worked. The only interest came from a tiny firm called BioProtection Systems Corp., a spinoff of NewLink Genetics, a biotech working on cancer vaccines. One of them was located in a city in Germany with a rather auspicious name: Marburg. NIAID and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) evaluated rVSV-ZEBOV in Phase 1 clinical trials which showed rVSV-ZEBOV is safe and able to induce a robust immune response in recipients. In the early 1990s, a Yale University scientist named John Jack Rose was trying to figure out a way to use a livestock virus called vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV, as a vaccine delivery system. The cAd3-EBO Z vaccine (designed to protect against the Ebola Zaire virus species) proved to be safe and immunogenic when evaluated in numerous Phase 1 clinical trials, including at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles Before the week was out, cases were reported in Guineas capital, the first time Ebola had taken root in an urban setting. In hindsight, that delayed response might seem striking. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002600. The source: primates imported for research purposes. The human-grade vaccine made by the German contractor contained the glycoprotein from a different Ebola Zaire strain. The Canadian government agreed to send the vaccine which was not human-grade product, but material the lab had produced for animal studies. After the large outbreak of the most common form of Ebola, Ebola Zaire in West Africa in 2014-2015, Gavi created an advance purchase agreement that not only provided incentives for manufacturers . Feldmann and Geisbert, an Ebola expert who was then at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, thought Nabel was wrong and that they could use the VSV construct to prove it. The vesicular stomatitis virus-based Ebola virus vaccine: From concept to clinical trials. Thanks to decades of research and innovation, mRNA vaccine technology was ready. Can the vaccine cause adverse effects? Viruses. New mega-deal highlights Geisingers fall, and raises concerns about where Kaiser is going next. In the spring of 2014, as Ebola exploded across West Africa, a scientist named Gary Kobinger was following the news intently from Canada. 2023 Jan 24;15(2):330. doi: 10.3390/v15020330. Vaccine quality is being overseen by good manufacturing practices committees. Klenk decided that ought to change. The reality was that, for years, scientists who studied Ebola, which belongs to a family of viruses called filoviruses, had poured their hearts into work to develop vaccines and drugs to combat. Now, as Uganda battles a type of Ebola without proven vaccines, is an mRNA vaccine against the deadly virus on the cards? Who is eligible for the vaccine? The needle penetrated three layers of gloves; though the wound didnt draw blood, her skin had been punctured. You can view all news or browse by category, Illustration showing how the Ebola virus looks under a microscope, ProspectiveContinuing Educationstudents, Prospective online/distance learning students. Two U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 have saved millions of lives. Actual Primary Completion Date : February 8, 2018. And would such a vaccine similarly transform the fight against Ebola? They're even trying them for non-infectious diseases like cancer. Its just bringing together a number of discrete actions and discrete facts, which each alone would not have made it. But it's. Exclusive analysis of biotech, pharma, and the life sciences. Rose, nonetheless, thought a VSV Ebola vaccine, in theory, would work as well. Interim results of the trial, published in August 2015. rVSV-ZEBOV was developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine uses a genetically engineered version of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), an animal virus that primarily affects cattle, to carry an Ebola virus gene insert. In addition to showing high efficacy among those vaccinated, the trial also shows that unvaccinated people in the rings were indirectly protected from Ebola virus through the ring vaccination approach (so called "herd immunity"). If there were more cases among the people in the rings that were vaccinated after the delay, the vaccine was working. Today, the most advanced EVD vaccine approaches target EBOV and multiple phase 1-4 human trials have been performed over the past few years. It was ugly, Kieny said. Ebola outbreak in Uganda: how worried are researchers? The trial took place in the coastal region of Basse-Guine, the area of Guinea still experiencing new Ebola cases when the trial started in 2015. Feldmann and others believed the latter was more likely. Following vaccination, participants will be monitored through several visits over a six-month period, with results expected in the second quarter of 2022. Already, vaccine manufacturers are developing mRNA vaccines to protect against other respiratory viruses such as the flu. Ervebo is administered as a single-dose injection, and is a live, attenuated vaccine that has been genetically engineered to contain a protein from the Zaire ebolavirus. The RNA sequence used in the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and . So, why did it take until the global COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 for the first mRNA vaccine to be brought to market? Not everyone would agree. BARDA also is supporting advanced development of this candidate. Individuals who provide care for people with EVD, including health care workers who do not use correct infection control precautions, are at the highest risk for infection. 217, 451455 (2018). J. Infect. Initially, rings were randomised to receive the vaccine either immediately or after a 3-week delay, and only adults over 18 years were offered the vaccine. The success of the first licensed mRNA-based vaccines against COVID-19 has created a widespread interest on mRNA technology for vaccinology. By his own estimate, Rose shared his VSV vector with at least 100 labs worldwide. When Ebola broke out in Equateur province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the spring of 2018, the country agreed to use the vaccine under a compassionate use protocol similar to the protocol used in a clinical trial when there is no approved therapy. Ebola vaccine trials: progress in vaccine safety and immunogenicity <span>Introduction: Ebolaviruses are non-segmented negative-strand RNA viruses in the <i>Filoviridae</i> family that cause a neglected infectious disease designated as Ebola virus disease (EVD). It is widely considered to be unethical to use untested drugs or vaccines in Africa, where clinical safeguards are sometimes lacking and where memories linger of scandals like Pfizers use of a meningitis drug that resulted in the death of 11 children in 1996. The vaccines one made by drug giant Pfizer with German biotech firm BioNTech, another by US pharmaceutical company Moderna sped through clinical trials in just months and gained approval from major regulatory bodies less than a year after development began. I live in the West Indies and I continued to follow the updates on Ebola. Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine is the first mRNA product to achieve full FDA approval in the U.S. Health workers in protective clothing speak with people awaiting medical treatment in the outpatient lounge of Redemption Hospital, formerly an Ebola holding center, in Monrovia, Liberia, in 2015. Recent advances in the development of vaccines for Ebola virus disease. The neutralizing antibody responses were fast and off the charts, he said. Cancerous cells create unique pieces of protein that are not found on healthy cells. The most prominent member is the Ebola virus (EBOV), representing the Zaire ebolavirus species that has been responsible for the largest reported EVD outbreaks including the West African epidemic and the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. But in terms of a pharmaceutical deal, negotiations happened at warp speed. NIAID and Okairos (a company later acquired by GSK) developed an Ebola vaccine candidate (now licensed to the Sabin Vaccine Institute) that uses a chimpanzee adenovirus (cAd3) vector, or carrier, to deliver Ebola genetic material. And how could human trials be conducted in the midst of an epidemic? (Nine years later, scientists would discover a related virus, Ebola. The vaccine had worked. KAMPALA, Oct 12 (Reuters) - World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday a clinical trial of vaccines to combat the Sudan strain of Ebola could start within. First, though, the Winnipeg lab had to create the starter material from which it could do so. The deal was announced Nov. 24, 2014. Mire CE, Geisbert JB, Marzi A, Agans KN, Feldmann H, Geisbert TW. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and in. In a comparison of cases of EVD among 2,108 individuals in the immediate vaccination arm and 1,429 individuals in the delayed vaccination arm, Ervebo was determined to be 100% effective in preventing Ebola cases with symptom onset greater than 10 days after vaccination. . And the Winnipeg labs Ebola vaccine would have missed the chance to attract the big-league help needed to get the vaccine tested and eventually licensed. It was to be used to produce test lots of human-grade VSV vaccine for Ebola Zaire, the species of the virus that has been the most common cause of Ebola outbreaks. Vesicular stomatitis virus-based vaccines protect nonhuman primates against Bundibugyo ebolavirus. Finally, a diagnosis of Ebola is made. Dr. Abdourahmane Diallo, a public health physician who works for Guineas health ministry, was one of those who answered the WHOs appeal for help. People who had had direct contact with anyone infected with Ebola were to be vaccinated, as were their contacts. Its not uncommon for a live virus vaccine, like rVSV-ZEBOV, to trigger a fever; its actually a sign that the immune system has activated. 2016 Apr 19;315(15):1610-23. doi: 10.1001/jama.2016.4218. No one outside the lab realized that the vaccine being tested in people was not identical to the one that had been studied so thoroughly in animals. That work was laborious and tedious, and it fell to the second asset Judie Alimonti, an unassuming immunologist and lab scientist dedicated to the cause. One very good student left his lab, he recalled, because she concluded the work was never going to pan out. Currently there are no licensed vaccines to prevent Ebola virus disease. The vaccine is based on the ChAdOx1 virus, a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that has been genetically modified so that it is impossible for it to replicate in humans. The study was a randomized cluster (ring) vaccination study in which 3,537 contactsand contacts of contactsof individuals with laboratory-confirmed EVD received either immediate or 21-day delayed vaccination with Ervebo. An experimental Ebola vaccine was highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial in Guinea, according to results published today in The Lancet. Follow her on Mastodon and Post News. It had not. A DNA-based vaccine developed by scientists at NIAID's Vaccine Research Center (VRC). He asked one of his students, Heinz Feldmann, if he wanted to continue to work on influenza, or move over to filoviruses like Marburg. The purpose of this study is the evaluation of the safety and immunogenicity of two candidate Ebola vaccines Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, in a 2-dose heterologous regimen. But faced with the prospect of Ebola victims lying abandoned in the streets of African cities and the worlds self-interested realization that the virus rampaging through West Africa wasnt likely to stay there the balance would eventually tip. Merck has also submitted the vaccine to WHOs Emergency Use and Assessment Listing procedure, a mechanism through which experimental vaccines, medicines and diagnostics can be made available for use prior to formal licensure. These efforts, including todays landmark approval, reflect the FDAs unwavering dedication to leveraging our expertise to facilitate the development and availability of safe and effective medical products to address urgent public health needs and fight infectious diseases, as part of our vital public health mission.. She was a very meticulous, methodical scientist, said Plummer, who oversaw the VSV vaccine project after Feldmann and then Jones left the Winnipeg lab. On Aug. 8, 2014, the WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency. They are highly effective in preventing symptomatic and severe COVID-19 infection. Later the group made a VSV virus with the G protein of the Marburg virus. Earlier trials have shown the vaccine to be protective in animals, and be safe and produce an immune response in humans. The vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, was studied in a trial involving 11 841 people in Guinea during 2015. Merck agreed to pay NewLink $50 million for the license. Guinean health professionals made up the bulk of the team that conducted the ring vaccination trial. The only thing in our mind was that we wanted to assess if the vaccine worked or not because we wanted to contribute if possible to find a solution, Diallo told STAT via email. The company started fielding approaches from the WHO, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and others asking if Merck would step up. Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals, Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription, Receive 51 print issues and online access, Get just this article for as long as you need it, Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-03590-y. Johnson & Johnsons vaccines division, Janssen, was also working on an Ebola vaccine, but it wasnt as far along as the GSK or the NewLink vaccines. After securing a patent for the vaccine system and obtaining permission from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to use its platform to produce Ebola and other viral hemorrhagic fever vaccines the Winnipeg lab talked to a variety of pharma companies, big and small, looking for a development partner. The study will assess the immune response and safety of the new vaccine against the Zaire and Sudan species of Ebola. mRNA vaccines have been developed for other diseases like rabies, Ebola, and Zika, and a large-scale influenza trial was carried out in humans from 1993 to 1996. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the DRC began to use Ervebo as an investigational vaccine under an expanded access program to help mitigate this outbreak. Feldmann was recruited to lead the special pathogens team there. Onset of symptoms of EVD can be sudden and can include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. Vector-based vaccines have been developed in the past for diseases including SARS, MERS, and most notably, the deadly Ebola virus; and mRNA vaccines have previously been tested to prevent the Zika virus. Meyer, M. et al. Hundreds of scientists had worked on mRNA vaccines for decades before the coronavirus pandemic brought a breakthrough. Because of the public health importance of a vaccine to prevent EVD, the FDA worked closely with the company and completed its evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of Ervebo in less than six months. Why are the vaccines not given to everyone at risk in endemic areas? In Winnipeg, Feldmanns team infected mice with the VSV virus containing the Ebola glycoprotein. Other studies are looking at the immune response to the vaccine including one conducted in parallel to the ring trial among frontline Ebola workers in Guinea. At the time, Ebola had killed about 1,300 people over the nearly 30 years since it had been discovered. Scientists said Monday they have developed the first mobile printer that can produce thumbnail-sized patches able to deliver mRNA COVID vaccines, hoping the tabletop device will help immunize people in remote regions. You know, when things go really wrong, quite often its a succession of little issues in which none by themselves could have derailed the train. It did so with support from BARDA, which began funding rVSV-ZEBOV during the West African outbreak. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function and in some cases internal and external bleeding. Proper Name: Ebola Zaire Vaccine, Live Tradename: ERVEBO Manufacturer: Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. The trial was led by WHO, together with Guineas Ministry of Health, Medecins sans Frontieres and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, in collaboration with other international partners. doi: 10.1128/JVI.00363-18. Heinz Feldmann (left) and Gary Kobinger operating an Ebola testing lab provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada during a 2007 outbreak at Luebo, DRC. The grant was doled out by a Canadian defense program that funded research into tools to combat bioterrorism. And sometimes for something good to happen its the same, she said. Was the vaccine safe to use? An experimental Ebola vaccine was highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial in Guinea, according to results published today in The Lancet. Non-replicating viral vector vaccines, while a relatively recent approach, have been studied extensively in HIV and other disease trials. Analysis only included cases occurring 10 days after receiving the vaccine to account for the incubation period of the Ebola virus. Among other tasks, Alimonti had to develop tests to show that the materials being transferred to IDT did not contain any microorganisms that inadvertently contaminated the product. The FDAs approval of Ervebo is a major advance in helping to protect against the Zaire ebolavirus as well as advancing U.S. government preparedness efforts. Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter what matters in science, free to your inbox daily. The vaccine does not contain any live Ebola virus. 2018;14(9):2107-2113. doi: 10.1080/21645515.2018.1473698. The idea was that the harmless virus would teach the immune system to recognize harmful potential invaders. An experimental Ebola vaccine was highly protective against the deadly virus in a major trial in Guinea, according to results published today in, Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee, Efficacy and effectiveness of an rVSV-vectored vaccine in preventing Ebola virus disease (Lancet article), Audio: press briefing by Dr Marie -Paule Kieny, WHO Assistant Director-General, Final trial results confirm Ebola vaccine provides high protection against disease. Using their approach, he was able to recover modified VSV viruses in a few months. It is known as Ervebo. Moderna, which is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is close to securing a deal to develop an mRNA vaccine against Ebola and other filoviruses, according to news agency Bloomberg. The solution to this problem came from advances in nanotechnology: the development of fatty droplets (lipid nanoparticles) that wrapped the mRNA like a bubble, which allowed entry into the cells. The vaccine works by replacing a gene from a harmless virus known as vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) with a gene encoding an Ebola virus surface protein. The idea was to hire a German contract manufacturer, IDT Biologika, to produce the vaccine. PMC With Roses virus, Klenks team could study individual Ebola genes by putting them onto the VSV backbone. However, this disease can be caused by several different species of virus and each of these may require a targeted immune response to offer protection. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. An official website of the United States government. Safety and Immunogenicity of Novel Adenovirus Type 26- and Modified Vaccinia Ankara-Vectored Ebola Vaccines: A Randomized Clinical Trial. The trial used an innovative design, a so-called ring vaccination approach - the same method used to eradicate small pox. While it can infect people, VSV doesnt sicken them. That opened up a whole new area of research on VSV for us and others, Rose recalled. The Xpert Ebola Assay (Cepheid) was used for detection of the EBOV RNAs encoding surface glycoprotein and nucleoprotein. Kobinger was the head of the special pathogens unit at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg. I think probably it would have never happened, Kobinger said. Before this work, no clinical trial on this scale had ever been performed in the country.. In the spring of 2017, the National Academy of Sciences issued a report on conducting research during disease outbreaks that called into question the way the trial was conducted and its findings. Congratulations. Every year during the budget process, Frank Plummer, scientific director of the National Microbiology Laboratory from 2000 to 2014, would get pressed on why Canada needed to work on pathogens like Ebola. Official Title: Phase I Safety and Immunogenicity Trial of an Investigational RNActive Rabies Vaccine (CV7201) in Healthy Adults. She put all her heart into it.. ISSN 0028-0836 (print). These vaccines were developed with NIH support and research on a protein found on SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A couple of days later, the Canadian government announced it would donate its vaccine to the agency. By that point, there were already 49 cases and 29 deaths, making it larger than about half of all previous known Ebola outbreaks. We had no interest in vaccines, he said. PubMed Here are some key people who made it happen, Ebola vaccine approved in Europe in landmark moment in fight against a deadly disease. To date, more than 250,000 individuals participating in clinical trials and vaccination initiatives have received at least the first dose of the Johnson & Johnson Ebola vaccine regimen, including . This became the Canadian vaccine how it was known for many years. The vaccine had never been deployed in an outbreak. Others started working on Phase 1 trials that would be conducted in Switzerland, Germany, Gabon, and Kenya. 8600 Rockville Pike In March 2009, a sudden crisis led to a critical decision. The .gov means its official.Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. The approval was granted to Merck & Co., Inc. But thats not proof, of course, said Kieny of the WHO. NIAID, under a clinical research collaboration with the Liberian Ministry of Health known as PREVAIL, also conducted a Phase 2 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of the vaccine in Liberia during the 2014-2016 outbreak of Ebola virus disease. Currently there are no licensed vaccines to prevent Ebola virus disease. The experts on the call a whos who of Ebola researchers and field workers at the time concluded that she should be offered the VSV vaccine. It was apparent to everyone that NewLink didnt have the expertise or bandwidth to take on this work. Would you like email updates of new search results? Symptoms begin with fever and muscle aches and progress to breathing problems, severe bleeding . In additional studies, antibody responses to Ervebo were assessed in 477 individuals in Liberia, approximately 500 individuals in Sierra Leone and approximately 900 individuals in Canada, Spain and the U.S. Once inside the cell, the mRNA message could be translated into proteins, like the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, and the immune system would then be primed to recognize the foreign protein. But the group didnt have high-containment labs in which to do animal studies, so it couldnt test the theory. And then came the West African Ebola crisis. However, the authors note that the trial was not designed to measure this effect, so more research will be needed. Once allowed to dry, the patches can be stored at room temperature . Feldmann believed the switch would have no impact on whether the vaccine was effective. After hed moved to the Canadian lab, though, Feldmann and Tom Geisbert, a friend and frequent collaborator, heard Dr. Gary Nabel, then head of the National Institutes of Healths Vaccine Research Center, deliver a lecture on Ebola. As part of this agreement, Merck committed to ensure that 300 000 doses of the vaccine are available for emergency use in the interim, and to submit the vaccine for licensure by the end of 2017. When IDT had produced vaccine, it shipped back vials to Alimonti who ran the tests to ensure the material was pathogen-free. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2022 Dec 6;14(12):2727. doi: 10.3390/v14122727. So, what happened once they figured out this technology? This candidate has been administered to people at risk of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and was previously tested in NIAID-supported clinical trials in West Africa. Health officials worldwide are sprinting to test whether experimental vaccines can protect against a deadly illness, after Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first outbreak of Marburg virus disease . Eventually, health workers become ill. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating three experimental HIV vaccines based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platforma technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines. Keywords: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today the approval of Ervebo, the first FDA-approved vaccine for the prevention of Ebola virus disease (EVD), caused by Zaire ebolavirus in individuals 18 years of age and older. Unauthorized use of these marks is strictly prohibited. It was not possible to collect biological samples from people who received the vaccine in order to analyse their immune response. And for years, they had seen promising work smash up against unscalable walls. the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in NIAID, along with other groups, supported Phase 1 trials of the vaccine regimen. In March 2022 Moderna announced the development of mRNA vaccines for 15 diseases: Chikungunya virus, COVID-19, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, Dengue, Ebola virus disease, HIV, Malaria, Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Nipah and henipaviral diseases, Rift Valley fever, Severe fever So good written and hugely interesting. From a regulatory perspective, it matters a lot.. The mRNA vaccine technology also is being tested as a treatment for cancer. Saint-Pierre Contreras G, Conei Valencia D, Lizama L, Vargas Zuiga D, Avendao Carvajal LF, Ampuero Llanos S. Viruses. The trials in Sierra Leone and Liberia ended without having enrolled enough patients to do so. Experience with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine) has shown the vaccine can be rapidly manufactured at high volume for low cost, with storage conditions amenable to use in the developing world. Her former colleagues describe her as the unsung hero of the Ebola vaccine. Worthy of an award! Suder E, Furuyama W, Feldmann H, Marzi A, de Wit E. Hum Vaccin Immunother. In an editorial, The Lancet called the trial a remarkable scientific and logistical achievement., That such a trial was even possible is a testament not only to the skill of the research teams but also to the commitment of communities to defeating an epidemic that has devastated their nation, the journals editors wrote. NewLink agreed to pay the Canadian government which officially held the patent about $156,000 for each product it developed. Despite the success, the study produced a backlash that was almost instantaneous in some quarters. But, importantly, there were no negative consequences to using the vaccine, a fact that would later give comfort to people who were struggling with whether to deploy rVSV-ZEBOV in a much larger emergency. The University of Oxford have begun recruiting for a Phase I trial to test an Ebola vaccine in human volunteers with the first vaccinations having already taken place. Beth-Ann Coller, who has been the project lead at Merck another unsung hero of the vaccine, said Kobinger choked up a little describing her reaction to the approval of the vaccine. This study will test the safety of an experimental vaccine developed to protect against Ebola virus infection and to determine if the vaccine induces an immune response to the virus.