Pioneering Ebola vaccine to be tested in Uganda

The Ugandan Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and partners have launched the world’s first clinical efficacy trial of a vaccine against Ebola virus disease caused by the Sudan virus, and the first to be conducted in an emergency setting during an ongoing outbreak. It is a cluster-randomised ring vaccination trial to assess the effect of a single, rapidly administered dose of a vaccine candidate that has already been shown to be safe and effective in protecting recent contacts of a confirmed Sudan virus case and those who have been in contact with them. Researchers from Makerere University and the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), with support from WHO, completed the trial within four days of the outbreak being confirmed on 30 January, following national and international legal and ethical requirements. This was made possible by establishing a randomised protocol for vaccine candidates during the last Ebola outbreak in Uganda in 2022. Researchers have been selected by the Ministry of Health for this purpose. The teams have also been trained to conduct such a test during an active epidemic and have recently attended refresher courses by WHO experts. The vaccine is being provided by the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), which conducted the safety and immunogenicity studies.