Same Bill Gates-Backed Live Ebola Vaccine Distributed Before Africa's 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022 Outbreaks Was Just Given to Colorado Healthcare Workers—U.S. Army Now Developing Ebola Medicines

"Next pandemic"?

Dec 22, 2023

In 1999, German-American virologist Dr. Heinz Feldman was recruited to Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory. Dr. Feldman set out to study the pathogenic effects of the Ebola virus glycoprotein. Since 2008, he has served as the chief of the laboratory of virology at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Rocky Mountain Laboratories, and heads the Disease Modeling and Transmission section.

In the same year, biopharmaceutical company NewLink Genetics, originally BioProtection Systems Inc., was founded and headquartered in Ames, Iowa. BioProtection Systems works to “[develop] vaccine solutions to increase the United States’ biodefense capabilities,” according to a company overview. The intellectual property rights for the Ebola vaccine, which belong to the Government of Canada, were licensed to NewLink Genetics.

In 2001, the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory began to work on developing a vaccine for Ebola. That same year, there were 59 reported cases of Ebola in the Republic of the Congo.

In September 2014, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it would commit $50 million “to support the scale up of emergency efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and interrupt transmission of the virus.” But the Gates Foundation, which funds Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory, had already secured Dr. Peter Piot, who co-discovered the Ebola virus in Zaire in 1976, as a Senior Fellow in 2009.

On November 24, 2014, NewLink announced its collaboration with pharmaceutical giant Merck to “produce mass quantities and to complete clinical trials for the vaccine.”

The Gates Foundation directly funds research regarding Merck’s Ebola vaccine, called “Ervebo.”

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First Ebola Outbreak Following Vaccine Campaign

The same year, Canada offered 800 doses of the Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization (WHO), which oversaw studies in countries struggling with the virus.

During those studies, which took place from November 17, 2014 through January 19, 2015, a total of 150 participants, many of whom coming from the African countries of Lambaréné, Gabon and Kilifi, Kenya, received three doses of the Ebola vaccine, as explained in a New England Journal of Medicine publication.

One ABC News report claimed that “[m]ore than 3,500 people were vaccinated with VSV in 2015, as part of a large trial at the end of Ebola outbreak in Guinea.”

By June 2016, just months after the vaccine campaign, more than 10,000 people had died from Ebola throughout Africa, many of those deaths occurring north of Gabon in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.

Second Ebola Outbreak Following Vaccine Campaign

Then, in May 2018, the WHO and Merck approved sending more than 7,500 doses of the “experimental” Ebola vaccine to the Democratic Republic of Congo—which borders Gabon—promising another 8,000 “in the coming days.”

Just three months after that vaccine campaign, in August 2018, Congo suffered another outbreak in which 2,000 of the 3,000 people affected died.

In the same month, the Gates Foundation announced it had partnered with and provided $2 million to the WHO to “accelerate” the organization’s Ebola response.

Third Ebola Outbreak Following Vaccine Campaign

In May 2019, the Congo government expanded “its use of the experimental Ebola vaccine that more than 110,000 have already received,” Science.org reported.

In November of the same year, the Ebola vaccine was approved in Europe.

By December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Merck’s Ervebo vaccine “[f]or the prevention of disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus in individuals 12 months of age and older.”

In the same month, Reuters reported the Gates Foundation’s ‘GAVI’ initiative, which promotes vaccine use worldwide, would bulk buy 500,000 (here) doses of the vaccine for “stockpiling.”

The following year, in February 2020, Congo licensed Merck’s Ervebo Ebola vaccine. The licensing meant “that the manufacturer can stockpile and widely distribute this vaccine to African countries at risk of Ebola virus disease outbreaks,” according to a WHO press release. “Once licensed doses are available, use of the vaccine will not require clinical trial or other research protocols.”

In the same month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is also funded (here, here, here) by the Gates Foundation, confirmed that 16,000 healthcare workers (HCWs) had received “pre-emptive” Ebola vaccine in countries bordering Congo.

In March 2020, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) moved to recommend the Ebola vaccine for U.S. health workers in Congo.

Then, in June, just months after that vaccine campaign, Congo’s Ministry of Health (MOH) declared another Ebola outbreak.

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Fourth Ebola Outbreak Following Vaccine Campaign

In November 2020, the WHO declared that responders in Congo had vaccinated more “than 40,000 people.”

However, by February 2021, yet another Ebola outbreak occurred (here) in Congo.

Ebola the “Next Pandemic”?

In March 2021, one GAVI publication predicted Ebola could represent the “next pandemic.”

“Ebola has so far only affected African countries, and occasional cases outside of the continent have been rapidly contained,” the publication reads. “But the virus could mutate to spread more easily between people, making it more of a pandemic threat.”

Fifth Ebola Outbreak Following Vaccine Campaign

In February 2022, the CDC recommended vaccination with ERVEBO “for adults aged ≥18 years in the U.S. population who are at high risk for potential occupational exposure to Ebola virus.”

By March 2022, hundreds more citizens in Congo had been vaccinated as part of a study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The very next month, in April, Congo’s health ministry declared another Ebola outbreak.

FDA Approves Ebola Vaccine for Children in U.S. and Europe

In August 2023, the FDA approved Merck’s Ebola vaccine Ervebo for use “in children as young as 12 months old.”

The European Commission (EC) followed suit, the very next month (September) approving “an expanded indication for ERVEBO for active immunization of individuals 1 year of age or older to protect against Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) caused by Zaire ebolavirus.”

WHO and Gates Double Down on Ebola

In October 2023, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyes announced the agency’s receipt of “new funding” from the Gates Foundation for its Ebola response efforts.

U.S. Healthcare Workers Receive Ebola Vaccine

In November 2023, Colorado healthcare workers received the live Ebola vaccine.

“A few medical employees at Denver Health made history Monday as some of the first people to receive the live Ebola vaccine for preventative measures,” according to Immunize Colorado.

“According to hospital officials, the team became some of the first people to receive the live Ebola vaccine for preventative measures in case of a future outbreak,” one local NBC News affiliate reported. “The team is a part of the Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Center – one of 13 centers in the U.S. that can treat infectious diseases like Ebola.”

Given the established record of Ebola outbreaks following vaccination campaigns, concerns are raised about a future outbreak in America.

Amplifying those concerns, RedHill Biopharma Ltd., a specialty biopharmaceutical company headquartered in both Tel-Aviv, Israel and Raleigh, North Carolina, this month reported findings regarding its two new drugs for treating Ebola, Opaganib and RHB-107.

The company boasted its two novel “oral host-directed investigational drugs” had “demonstrated robust synergistic effect when combined individually with remdesivir (Veklury®), significantly improving [Ebola] viral inhibition while maintaining cell viability,” according to a press release.

The study was funded by the U.S. Army.

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Potential Problems with Merck’s ‘Ervebo’ Ebola Vaccine

The New England Journal of Medicine publication referenced above noted there was “warrant” for “further evaluation for safety and efficacy” of Merck’s Ervebo Ebola vaccine, citing arthritis and skin lesions occurring in vaccinated patients.

Ervebo Package Insert

The package insert for Merck’s Ervebo provided by the FDA, also raises questions about the drug’s safety.

The most commonly reported local and systemic adverse events in the vaccine’s clinical trials are:

“Individuals 18 years of age and older: injection-site pain (70%); headache (55%); feverishness (39%); muscle pain (33%); somnolence, reduced activity, fatigue (26%); joint pain, arthralgia (19%); chills (17%); injection-site swelling (17%); decreased appetite (15%); abdominal pain (13%); injection-site redness (12%); nausea (10%); arthritis (5%); vomiting (4%), rash (4%); abnormal sweating (3%) and mouth ulceration (2%).”
“Individuals 12 months through 2 years of age: feverishness (83%); crying (31%); decreased appetite (27%); injection-site pain (26%); somnolence, reduced activity, fatigue (20%); diarrhea (19%); vomiting (17%); irritability (11%); screaming (10%); mouth ulceration (6%); chills (5%); injection-site swelling (5%); headache (4%); abdominal pain (2%); abnormal sweating (2%) and injection site erythema (1%).”
“Individuals 3 years through 11 years of age: feverishness (65%); headache (50%); injection-site pain (40%); decreased appetite (24%); somnolence, reduced activity, fatigue (22%); abdominal pain (21%); chills (14%); myalgia (12%); vomiting (11%); dizziness (8%); nausea (8%); injection-site pruritus (7%); crying (3%); arthralgia (3%); diarrhea (3%); injection-site swelling (3%); abnormal sweating (1%); mouth ulceration (2%) and irritability (1%). (6.1)
“Individuals 12 years through 17 years of age: headache (59%); injection-site pain (52%); feverishness (48%); myalgia (30%); somnolence, reduced activity, fatigue (28%); decreased appetite (21%); chills (19%); dizziness (17%); abdominal pain (16%); arthralgia (16%); nausea (8%); abnormal sweating (5%); diarrhea (4%); vomiting (4%); injection-site pruritus (3%).”

The insert also indicates there is no data showing for how long the vaccine will protect vaccinated individuals: “The duration of protection conferred by ERVEBO is unknown,” it reads.

It warns of anaphylaxis—a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction leading to symptoms such as difficulty breathing, a drop in blood pressure, rapid and weak pulse, skin rash, nausea, and vomiting—following vaccination.

The insert admits Ervebo “may not protect all individuals.”

It also warns the safety and effectiveness of ERVEBO “have not been assessed in immunocompromised individuals” and that the “effectiveness of ERVEBO in immunocompromised individuals may be diminished.” “The risk of vaccination with ERVEBO, a live virus vaccine, in immunocompromised individuals should be weighed against the risk of disease due to Zaire ebolavirus,” it says.

The insert raises concerns about vaccinated individuals spreading the virus to others through a process called ‘shedding.’

“Vaccine virus RNA has been detected in blood, saliva, urine, and fluid from skin vesicles of vaccinated individuals,” the insert reads. “[T]ransmission of vaccine virus is a theoretical possibility.”

It added that “[s]hedding of vaccine virus into the urine or saliva was evaluated in 359 participants enrolled in 8 clinical studies who were vaccinated with ERVEBO or lower dose formulations. Vaccine virus RNA was detected by RT-PCR in the urine or saliva of some participants at timepoints ranging from Day 1 through Day 14 postvaccination. In the 3 studies that assessed shedding at Day 28, no samples tested positive. In Study 6, 31.7% (19/60) of participants 12 months through 17 years of age enrolled in a substudy shed vaccine virus in saliva following vaccination. Viral shedding was greatest on Day 7 and declined thereafter, with no shedding detected after Day 28. Vaccine virus RNA was detected by RT-PCR in vesicular fluid samples from some participants. In one participant, a sample collected 20 days after vaccination tested positive for vaccine virus RNA by RTPCR.”

Paresthesia, the sensation of tingling, numbness in the skin, “was reported by 1.4% of ERVEBO recipients compared to 0% of those who received placebo.”

Eighty-five percent (85%) of vaccinated participants suffered decreases in white blood cells, which play a crucial role in protecting the body from infections.

There are also “no adequate and well-controlled studies of ERVEBO in pregnant women,” according to the insert. “[H]uman data available from clinical trials with ERVEBO are insufficient to establish the presence or absence of vaccine associated risk during pregnancy. The decision to vaccinate a woman who is pregnant should consider the woman’s risk of exposure to Zaire ebolavirus.”

The insert also warns the “potential for transmission of the vaccine virus from mother to the fetus/neonate is unknown.”

Regarding lactating mothers, “[h]uman data are not available to assess the impact of ERVEBO on milk production, its presence in breast milk, or its effects on the breastfed child. The developmental and health benefits of breastfeeding should be considered along with the mother’s clinical need for ERVEBO and any potential adverse effects on the breastfed child from ERVEBO or from the underlying maternal condition.”

Regarding “Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, [and] Impairment of Fertility,” the insert admits that “ERVEBO has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity, genotoxicity or impairment of male fertility.”

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