WHO announces start of Ebola vaccine clinical trial in DR Congo

What the report says

The World Health Organization has announced the start of the first Ebola vaccine clinical trial linked to the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Al Jazeera. The trial is beginning in Bunia, the capital of northeastern Ituri province, which the report says is the epicentre of the outbreak. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said participants were vaccinated with Ervebo, a vaccine already approved for the Zaire strain of Ebola, as researchers assess whether it can help against the Bundibugyo species behind this epidemic.

Al Jazeera reports that the study, called the Tumaini trial, is designed to test the safety, efficacy and immunogenicity of multiple vaccine candidates under one framework. It will use a ring vaccination approach, targeting contacts who are at high risk of exposure. The trial is expected to include two Bundibugyo-specific candidates still moving through earlier-stage studies: one developed by the University of Oxford using an adenoviral vector platform, and another by Moderna using mRNA technology.

The WHO said the DRC-led effort is intended to produce rigorous evidence on whether the vaccines can protect people in this outbreak. The report notes that the trial will include pregnant women and children aged 12 and older, groups often left out of clinical studies. The wider outbreak remains severe, with the DRC reporting thousands of cases and deaths and the WHO having declared a public health emergency of international concern.