Giving Compass' Take:

· Although Merck & Co has developed a highly effective vaccine for Ebola, quantity is limited and only given to those at high risk of contracting the disease. Experts gathered in late June to discuss the development and testing of a second Ebola vaccine to supplement the limited quantity of the Merck shot.

· What concerns do experts have with the testing of a second vaccine? What potential does this second vaccine hold? 

· Read more about the Ebola outbreak in the DRC and how it is affecting society.

When the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared its 10th Ebola outbreak in August 2018, it had one weapon that was unavailable during the previous nine: a highly effective vaccine, produced by Merck & Co. Ten months later, health workers have administered some 130,000 doses, yet the epidemic is still raging; it is now the second largest in history, with more than 1500 deaths.

That’s why experts gathered in Kinshasa on 28 June to discuss a thorny issue: whether, and how, to deploy a second vaccine to supplement the limited supplies of the Merck shot. Fielding it would also provide a rare opportunity to test another vaccine’s effectiveness. But some experts worry a new effort could drain resources from the primary vaccination campaign and complicate efforts to persuade people to get vaccinated. “Having two vaccines ... raises an important potential for confusion and skepticism,” says political scientist Rachel Sweet at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Read the full article about testing the second Ebola vaccine by Kai Kupferschmidt at News from Science.