Late last night, Russia’s health minister tweeted that the country has developed a vaccine that could work against the newEbolastrain, Bundibugyo. The announcement quickly grabbed national attention, with news agencies and television channels splashing the development across headlines by early morning, offering a sense of hope amid growing anxiety over the outbreak. But given that the vaccine development and approval process usually takes months, if not years, the claim also left many confused. To better understand what exactly this vaccine announcement means, and why it is important to pay close attention to what researchers and the health minister himself have actually said, we reached out to Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National IMA COVID Task Force and Past President of the Indian Medical Association, Cochin,.

In 2015, Russia announced a vaccine for Ebola virus disease, specifically the Zaire strain, which had caused large outbreaks prior. That is a different virus from the Bundibugyo strain causing the present outbreak. That vaccine was later evaluated in the Republic of Guinea. Although it generated antibodies and was safe, researchers could not demonstrate clinical effectiveness (that is, whether it actually prevents Ebola disease) because the outbreak was already over by then. From the current announcement, it is not explicitly clear whether they are attempting to use that same vaccine for the different Ebola outbreak going on now. It does appear they are talking about the old vaccine, because the director of the Gamaleya Institute is quoted as saying 'there is a 60-70% similarity' between their vaccine and the virus causing the current outbreak. The best interpretation of this statement is that they are hoping the vaccine developed for the Zaire strain can also provide cross-protection against the Bundibugyo strain.

While this sounds superficially plausible, let us look at the real-world significance of this 60-70% similarity. The vaccine targets the viral glycoprotein. This protein is a large structure. The similarity mentioned need not represent the similarity of the specific parts of the protein that the body’s immune system targets following vaccination (they are called epitopes).

An easy way to look at it is as follows: Imagine the protein is a blue Ambassador car, and the vaccine is a person specifically trained to recognise it. Next, imagine we change the paint colour of the car to red. Now it looks different from the outside, but on the inside, it is still 99% similar to the other car. But a person specifically looking for a blue car might not recognise it, simply because it is now red.

Thus, a 70% similarity on paper may not necessarily apply in the real world of immunology. Antibodies are trained to identify and attach to specific parts of the protein called epitopes and unless those parts are identical, they won't be effective. Besides, we already know that the standard PCR tests designed to identify the genetic material of the Zaire strain do not recognize the Bundibugyo strain, despite the stated similarity.

A girl sanitises her hands in front of Kibuli Muslim Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/ Hajarah Nalwadda)

While the world is racing to create a vaccine for this current Ebola virus strain, by the time a vaccine candidate is ready and put through lab studies and preliminary human trials, the outbreak could already be over through established public health measures like contact tracing and isolation. Thus, a new vaccine might not get a chance to be tested in a large clinical trial to demonstrate clinical effectiveness- that is, the ability of the vaccine to prevent disease in the real world. In the absence of an active outbreak, such trials are impossible.

The fast-spreading nature of the SARS-CoV-2 virus made COVID-19 vaccine trials relatively easy to conduct. Because transmission was so widespread, it was easy to compare infection rates among vaccinated and unvaccinated people to find out if the vaccine worked. That is exactly why those trials could be completed in such a short span of time.

One of the challenges of creating a newEbolavaccine is that it will have very little commercial demand in wealthy countries. Unlike a flu vaccine, the financial viability is low. Besides, there is considerable vaccine hesitancy in parts of Africa due to a general distrust of health systems and authority. There are also logistical hurdles, including ultra-cold chain storage requirements, manpower shortages, and fragile local healthcare systems. Earnest global cooperation and generous public funding are required to make multi-strain vaccines a reality. Efforts are already underway. Looking forward, we must keep in mind that we no longer live in a world where an infectious disease remains confined to one town or a single country. No one is safe until everyone is safe.

Kalpana Sharma is currently the Lifestyle and Education Editor at Times Now and Editor of Health and Me (Times Networks' health website). With a stron...View More

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