A Return To The Power Alley: Phase I/II Trial Now Dosing, For "Sudan Variant" Ebola Vaccine Candidate: Per IAVI

As we have long reported (see any of over 400 posts here; search "ebola" in the box at upper left), there is/was no approved vaccine for the Sudan strain that struck Uganda and South Sudan in outbreaks, last fall. [And it does seem. . . equitable, that the leading risk, to the extent there is one, be from time to time shouldered by first volunteers here in the states.] And to be sure, this is what true blue patriotism looks like, as we approach the Fourth again.

Jumping back to Uganda in 2022, and thankfully so, the outbreak was arrested in early stages by rapid detection and isolation. So rapid, in fact, the vaccine candidate could not reach the front-lines in time to be tested in ring-fashion. So now, 36 brave, healthy US volunteers, with no known exposure to any version of Ebola have been dosed with the experimental candidate -- and will be followed for six months. Here's the latest:

. . .A vaccine candidate for a type of Ebola virus has been administered to human beings for the first time, the International Aids Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) has announced.

The first participants in this trial were vaccinated in the United States this week. IAVI said in a statement that about 36 healthy adults will be enrolled and followed for six months after vaccination to monitor their safety and immune responses. . . .

To be certain, this is good news -- and is how solid pandemic amelioration science works. Kudos to those willing to be first "test pilots" on this initiative. May they -- and we all -- be rewarded, with a new tool to save lives in sub-Saharan Africa.

Onward, smiling -- ever onward.

नमस्ते