Excitement over use of Ebola vaccine in outbreak tempered by real-world challenges

The start of a vaccination program this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a first in an Ebola outbreak, was a cause for a mini celebration in research and outbreak response circles. But there are challenges ahead in the real-world use of the vaccine, warned the head of the global health organization that is funding the vaccination effort.

Successful use of the vaccine requires response planners and vaccination teams to hit the right notes on several challenging communications messages, said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership that assists developing countries with immunization programs.

Getting those messages wrong could endanger lives and undermine the effort to use, to witness the start of the vaccination