Scientists working to develop four Ebola vaccines to tackle outbreak in DR Congo

By Isa Isawade

The head of a global vaccine coalition has said that scientists are working at high speed to develop four Ebola vaccines to tackle the outbreak in DR Congo.

Two of the vaccines, according to a report by Semafor, could be ready for clinical trials in two months.

More than 500 cases of the Bundibugyo strain, for which there is no proven vaccine, have been reported in the outbreak, which is concentrated in eastern DR Congo.

Two of the experimental vaccines — one being developed by Oxford University scientists, and another by Moderna — harness technology used to create vaccines for COVID-19 and could be in trials by the end of August.

This was reportedly disclosed by CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Richard Hatchett.

However, Hatchett cautioned that, even if a vaccine performed well in clinical trials, it would take at least two more months to move to further trials and regulatory approval.

Emanuele Capobianco at global vaccine alliance GAVI, meanwhile, said a proven vaccine would be a “game changer,” but warned in an interview that it was likely “to take several months, potentially years” to end the outbreak.

He reportedly compared it to a 2018 Ebola epidemic in eastern DR Congo which lasted two years, despite there being a vaccine. Health experts say the disease is likely to have circulated, undetected, for weeks in the northeastern Ituri province, where artisanal mining is an economic mainstay.