An Ebola vaccine is a vaccine used to prevent Ebola virus disease (Ebola). There are six known species of ebolavirus; four of them cause Ebola disease.
As of May 2026, there is one licensed vaccine against the Zaire ebolavirus species, and none against the other species. The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine was first approved in the European Union in November 2019 and subsequently approved in the United States. It had been used extensively in the Kivu Ebola epidemic under a compassionate use protocol.
A second vaccine, Zabdeno/Mvabea, had been licensed by the European Union in July 2020, but was withdrawn by the manufacturer in May 2026.
Several vaccine candidates displayed efficacy to protect nonhuman primates (usually macaques) against lethal infection. Candidate vaccines include replication-deficient adenovirus vectors, replication-competent vesicular stomatitis (VSV) and human parainfluenza (HPIV-3) vectors, and virus-like nanoparticle preparations.The Ebola vaccine is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. __TOC__ Chart Vaccine Associated organisations StatusStrain usedIntra-Species efficacyEfficacy against BDBVEfficacy against SUDVEfficacy against TAFV rVSV ZEBOV (cAd3-ZEBOV) sold under Ervebo Newlink Genetics, Merck, GSK, NIAID, Bavarian Nordic, PHAC & GlaxoSmithKlineIn useKikwit 90-95% ~75% Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, sold under Zabdeno/Mvabea Johnson & Johnson, Bavarian Nordic, Jenner InstituteIn use until 2026, when its authorization was withdrawnMayingaAd5-EBOVCanSino Biologics & the Institute of Biotechnology of the Academy of Military Medical SciencesAuthorized in China after the completion of a Phase II Trial MakonaGamEvac-CombiMinistry of Health of the Russian Federation, Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Ministry of Defence (Russia)Authorized in Russia after the completion of a Phase II Trial Makona 93%EpivacEbolaRospotrebnadzorAuthorized in Russia after the completion of a Phase III TrialMakona ChAd3Sabin Vaccines Institute & NIAIDPhase II Trial completedMayinga Vaxart TabletVaxart Inc. & USAMRIIDPhase II Trial completedUnknown INO-4201 DNA vaccineInovio PharmaceuticalsPhase I Trial completedUnknown ZEBOV GP Novavax Inc.Non-human primate challenges completeMakona AdCAGoptZGP Nasal Vaccine Thomas Jefferson University, University of Texas-Austin & NIAIDNon-human primate challenge completeUnknown Attenuated Ebola virus vaccine:EBOVΔVP30University of Tokyo, University of Wisconscin, Japan Science and Technology AgencyNon-human primate challenge completeMayinga VSVΔG/EBOVGPNIH & University of Texas Medical BranchNon-human primate challenges completeUnknown VP35mUniversity of California, Irvine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Mayo Clinic &Georgia State UniversityNon-human primate challenge completeUnknown
Approved worldwide
rVSV-ZEBOV
rVSV-ZEBOV (also known as cAd3-ZEBO) sold under the brand name Ervebo, is a vaccine based on the vesicular stomatitis virus which was genetically modified to express a surface glycoprotein of the Kikwit strain of the Zaire Ebola virus. Nonetheless, due to high levels of similarity between the different strains of the Zaire virus, it remains effective even when faced with other strains of the Zaire virus such as the Mayinga or Makona strain. However, increased genetic differences means it offers only partial protection against other species of ebolaviruses such as the Sudan virus or the Bundibugyo virus, where it offers about a 75% level of protection.
In November 2019, the European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorisation. The World Health Organization (WHO) prequalification came less than 48 hours later, making it the fastest vaccine prequalification process ever conducted by the WHO. It was approved for medical use in the European Union in November 2019. Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. It was approved for medical use in the United States in December 2019.
The most common side effects include pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, headache, fever, muscle pain, tiredness and joint pain. In general, these reactions occur within seven days after vaccination, are mild to moderate in intensity and resolved in less than a week.It was developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada, with development subsequently taken over by Merck Inc. In September 2014, two Phase I clinical trials began for the vaccine cAd3-EBO Z, which is based on an attenuated version of a chimpanzee adenovirus (cAd3) that has been genetically altered so that it is unable to replicate in humans. The cAd3 vector has a DNA fragment insert that encodes the Zaire ebolavirus glycoprotein, which is expressed on the virion surface and is critical for attachment to host cells and catalysis of membrane fusion. It was developed by NIAID in collaboration with Okairos, now a division of GlaxoSmithKline. For the trial designated VRC 20, 20 volunteers were recruited by the NIAID in Bethesda, Maryland, while three dose-specific groups of 20 volunteers each were recruited for trial EBL01 by University of Oxford, UK. Initial results were released in November 2014; all 20 volunteers developed antibodies against Ebola and there were no significant concerns raised about safety.
In October 2014, the Wellcome Trust, who was also one of the biggest UK founders, also announced the start of multiple trials in healthy volunteers in Europe, Gabon, Kenya, and the US. The vaccine was proven safe at multiple sites in North America, Europe, and Africa, but several volunteers at one trial site in Geneva, Switzerland, developed vaccine-related arthritis after about two weeks, and about 20–30% of volunteers at reporting sites developed low-grade post-vaccine fever, which resolved within a day or two. Other common side-effects were pain at the site of injection, myalgia, and fatigue. The trial was temporarily halted in December 2014 due to possible adverse effects, but subsequently resumed.
In December 2014, University of Oxford expanded the trial to include a booster vaccine based on MVA-BN, a strain of Modified vaccinia Ankara, developed by Bavarian Nordic, to investigate whether it can help increase immune responses further. The trial which has enrolled a total of 60 volunteers will see 30 volunteers vaccinated with the booster vaccine. , Phase III trial with a single dose of cAd3-EBO Z began in Sierra Leone and Liberia after a successful Phase 2 study in West Africa countries. On 31 July 2015, preliminary results of a phase III trial in Guinea indicated that the vaccine appeared to be "highly efficacious and safe." The trial used a ring vaccination protocol that first vaccinated all the closest contacts of new cases of Ebola infection either immediately or after 21 days. Because of the demonstrated efficacy of immediate vaccination, all recipients will now be immunized immediately. Ring vaccination is the method used in the program to eradicate smallpox in the 1970s. The trial will continue to assess whether the vaccine is effective in creating herd immunity to Ebola virus infection. In December 2016, a study found the VSV-EBOV vaccine to be 95–100% effective against the Zaire ebolavirus, making it the first proven vaccine against the disease.
The approval was supported by a study conducted in Guinea during the 2014–2016 outbreak in individuals 18 years of age and older. The study was a randomized cluster (ring) vaccination study in which 3,537 contacts, and contacts of contacts, of individuals with laboratory-confirmed Ebola virus disease (EVD) received either "immediate" or 21-day "delayed" vaccination. This design was intended to capture a social network of individuals and locations that might include dwellings or workplaces where a patient spent time while symptomatic, or the households of individuals who had contact with the patient during that person's illness or death. In a comparison of cases of EVD among 2,108 individuals in the "immediate" vaccination arm and 1,429 individuals in the "delayed" vaccination arm, Ervebo was determined to be 100% effective in preventing Ebola cases with symptom onset greater than ten days after vaccination. No cases of EVD with symptom onset greater than ten days after vaccination were observed in the "immediate" cluster group, compared with ten cases of EVD in the 21-day "delayed" cluster group.
In additional studies, antibody responses were assessed in 477 individuals in Liberia, some 500 individuals in Sierra Leone, and about 900 individuals in Canada, Spain, and the US. The antibody responses among those in the study conducted in Canada, Spain and the US were similar to those among individuals in the studies conducted in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The safety was assessed in approximately 15,000 individuals in Africa, Europe, and North America. The most commonly reported side effects were pain, swelling and redness at the injection site, as well as headache, fever, joint and muscle aches and fatigue.
In December 2016, a study found the VSV-EBOV vaccine to be 70–100% effective against the Ebola virus, making it the first proven vaccine against the disease. However, the design of this study and the high efficacy of the vaccine were questioned. In November 2019, the European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorization to Ervebo (rVSV∆G-ZEBOV-GP, live) and the WHO prequalified an Ebola vaccine for the first time.
In July 2023, the FDA expanded the indication for Ervebo to cover people aged twelve years of age and older. The vaccine has also been proven to be safe for immunocompromised individuals, such as those with HIV, by a 2017 study in Liberia.
Ervebo demonstrated significant effectiveness during the 2018-2020 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, providing 84% protection to individuals vaccinated at least 10 days prior to exposure. This finding, detailed in a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, marks the first peer-reviewed evaluation of the vaccine, Ervebo, under real-world conditions.
Approved locally or temporarily
Zabdeno/mvabea The two-dose regimen of Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, sold under the brand names Zabdeno and Mvabea, was developed by Johnson & Johnson at its Janssen Pharmaceutical company. It received a 5 year approval for medical use against the Zaire ebolavirus in the European Union in July 2020.
The regimen consists of two vaccine components (first vaccine as prime, followed by a second vaccine as boost) – the first based on AdVac technology from Crucell Holland B.V. (which is part of Janssen), the second based on the MVA-BN technology from Bavarian Nordic. The Ad26.ZEBOV is derived from human adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) expressing the Ebola virus Mayinga variant glycoprotein, while the second component MVA-BN is the Modified Vaccinia Virus Ankara – Bavarian Nordic (MVA-BN) Filo-vector. This product commenced phase I clinical trial at the Jenner Institute in Oxford during January 2015. The preliminary data indicated the prime-boost vaccine regimen elicited temporary immunologic response in the volunteers as expected from vaccination. The phase II trial enrolled 612 adult volunteers and commenced in July 2015, in the United Kingdom and France. A second phase II trial, involving 1,200 volunteers, was initiated in Africa with the first trial commenced in Sierra Leone in October 2015.
In September 2019, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted an accelerated assessment to Janssen for Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo, and in November 2019, Janssen submitted a marketing authorisation application (MAA) to the EMA for approval of Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo.