Ugandan researchers have begun the trial of a second experimental Ebola vaccine that is expected to be deployed in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where a deadly Ebola outbreak has already put over 1,800 people to death, reported Africa News.
The Janssen Pharmaceuticals vaccine will be given to around 800 people in the western district of Mbarara. Supported by Doctors without Borders and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the trial is the largest yet conducted with this vaccine.
Commenting on the trial, Ugandan researcher, Pontiano Kaleebu, who leads the trial, said Friday that he regrets that the Janssen vaccine has not yet been deployed in Congo. He added that the Janssen vaccine has already been tested in about 6,000 people, most of them Africans.
“We are excited about this (trial) … because this is one of the promising vaccines,” he said. “It’s one of those vaccines that have shown a lot of promise in animal studies but also in other trials that have been conducted.”
The trial follows the resignation of the Ugandan health minister, Oly Ilunga, who stepped down last month. He had argued against the vaccine’s deployment, saying a second vaccine could create confusion on the ground.
Uganda has had multiple Ebola outbreaks in the past, but it is currently free of the virus. Ugandan researchers said the trial of the new vaccine is expected to last two years and will test how long any protection from Ebola would last.
The ongoing epidemic is the second-worst Ebola outbreak on record, ranking behind the 2014–2016 West Africa crisis that killed more than 11,000 people. The DRC government reported the first four cases in Goma this week, taking up the grand total up to about 2,700 altogether in the outbreak. The wife and daughter of the man who died this week of Ebola in Goma now have the disease.
