WASHINGTON (AP) – It took 16 years of twists and turns. Over and over, Dr. Nancy Sullivan thought she was close to an Ebola vaccine, only to see the next experiment fail.
“A case of resuscitation more than once,” is how the National Institutes of Health researcher describes the journey.
But it is those failures that Sullivan credits for finally leading her to a vaccine promising enough to test in parts of West Africa ravaged by Ebola. Last week, volunteers in Liberia’s capital began rolling up their sleeves for the first large-scale testing of two potential Ebola vaccines, the one Sullivan developed at NIH and a similar one created by Canada’s government.
Sullivan just hopes it was in time to prove whether the shots really work.
Ebola has claimed nearly 9,000 lives in West Africa over the past year, although new infections have dropped dramatically in recent months. It’s too soon to declare victory: Last week, new cases inched up for the first time this year, and health officials fear a resurgence if they don’t completely stamp out the disease before the upcoming rainy season.