The goal is to investigate how safe the vaccine is and what immune response it elicits.
Participants will be monitored for one year, but researchers expect to quickly determine whether the vaccine produces the desired immune response and any unexpected side effects.
The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus.
Vaccines already exist for other Ebola viruses, but the virus variants are so different that they require different vaccines and treatments.
The new vaccine is based on the same technology as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus.
Researchers are seeking 50 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 55 years to participate in the trial. The goal is to investigate how safe the vaccine is and what immune response it elicits.
Researchers at the University of Oxford began their work after an international health emergency was declared on May 17. The vaccine is the first of four candidates under development to advance to clinical trials, according to the BBC.
The first doses are expected to be administered in the United Kingdom within a few weeks. Participants will be monitored for one year, but researchers expect to quickly determine whether the vaccine produces the desired immune response and any unexpected side effects.
The outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is caused by the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus. A total of 864 people have died, and 2,181 cases of infection have been laboratory-confirmed.
Vaccines already exist for other Ebola viruses, but the virus variants are so different that they require different vaccines and treatments. No vaccine has yet been approved for the Bundibugyo strain.
The new vaccine is based on the same technology as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine against the coronavirus. The vaccine has been tested on mice and monkeys. The Serum Institute of India has already produced and stockpiled approximately 620,000 doses of the vaccine.
English edit by Christian Radich Hoffman.
