Vaccine getting closer

US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci. Source: AFP
MORE than 20,000 people in west Africa will be given a revolutionary new drug next month that its developers hope could halt the march of the biggest Ebola outbreak in history.
As millions in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea endured a muted Christmas, avoiding large-scale public gatherings that might spread the disease still further, the American immunologist leading the hunt for a vaccine has revealed that a possible treatment has emerged.
Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, will head for Liberia next month to oversee the start of phase two and three clinical trials of the unnamed drug, involving 20,000 people in Liberia and thousands more in Sierra Leone.
It is the first time that a potential vaccine has reached such an advanced stage.
His team could know as early as the middle of the year whether they have a vaccine. If so, GlaxoSmithKline is confident that it can produce millions of doses within months.
“We will have a vaccine for Ebola. Whether it is this vaccine or another vaccine, I can’t tell you, but I feel confident that we will have a vaccine against Ebola,” Dr Fauci said.