An article in the NY times by Seth Berkley talks about the new Ebola vaccine.
According to interim results in the Lancet p, the rVSV-ZEBOV candidate vaccine is currently undergoing phase 3 trials – the final phase before vaccines can be licensed . It is safe in the short-term, but also highly effective at protecting people from the Ebola virus circulating in Guinea.
According to him, “while more research may be needed to establish the long-term protection and safety, use of this vaccine needs to be immediately extended beyond the trials in Guinea and made available to ring vaccinate people in Sierra Leone and wherever else outbreaks occur. Similarly health care workers in affected regions should be offered access to this vaccine now, as they are often the first exposed to any new cases.”
Dr. Seth Berkeley is a medical doctor and epidemiologist and the chief executive of the Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance which is an international organization that works to improve access to new and underused vaccines in low-income countries.
