NY Times: First Dosings For Merck's Ebola Vaccine Candidate In Sierra Leone As Crisis Wanes There

We will continue to worry about the other countries in the outbreak belt -- Guinea and Liberia, where new cases -- and new clusters -- continue to resurface, but this is good news. [And for the record, Mr. Frazier has earned every penny this year -- particularly when compared to Mr. Read's largely buffoonish performance in 2014.]

Via the Gray Lady overnight then -- a bit:

. . . .Researchers began vaccinating volunteers in Sierra Leone with an experimental Ebola vaccine in a study officially begun on Monday. The trial, the third to begin in the West African countries hardest hit by Ebola, is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Sierra Leone’s Health Ministry and the University of Sierra Leone’s College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences. Scientists aim to enroll 6,000 health workers. The vaccine, rVSV-EBOV, licensed by Merck and NewLink Genetics, has also undergone testing in Liberia, Guinea, the United States and other countries. . . .

While the lack of new cases is a very very welcome relief, the (early non-) response to the 2014 to 2015 outbreak -- the worst on record -- remains a troubling lesson of. . . too little, too late.