How close is the Ebola vaccine?

PUBLIC BROADCASTING CORP by Caleb Hellerman         June 11, 2015

The quest for an Ebola vaccine has been a journey filled with excruciating delays and mad dashes. The latest outbreak in West Africa caused governments and drug companies to jumpstart research that had languished back when the threat of Ebola wasn’t big enough to sustain a commercial market. (Prior to 2013, the virus had sickened fewer than 2,300 people in known history). Human safety trials of two vaccines began last summer — each being given to a small group of healthy volunteers. When no major side effects were apparent, health officials scrambled to launch larger tests in the countries that were most affected by Ebola.

A volunteer receives an Ebola vaccine in Sierra Leone. Thousands of these voluntary immunizations have been tested so far in the West African nation. Photo by Cameron Hickey.

By the medical world’s standards, these trials are happening at blinding speed, but the success of the containment effort in the winter and spring has made it virtually impossible to prove whether or not the vaccine works. If no one is getting sick, how can you test if the vaccine protects them?

Even so, health officials say the trials will provide some crucial answers. Here’s a breakdown:
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http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/close-ebola-vaccine/