BRIEF—FDA approves Ervebo Ebola vaccine for younger age population

Last Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Ervebo, a vaccine for the prevention of Ebola virus disease caused by Zaire ebolavirus in individuals 12 months through 17 years of age.

Developed by US pharma giant Merck & Co, Ervebo has been approved in Europe and the USA for use in individuals 18 years of age and older since late 2019.

Cases of Ebola are very rare in the USA, and those that have occurred have been the result of infections acquired by individuals in other countries who then traveled to the USA, or health care workers who became ill after treating patients with Ebola, the FDA noted.

Ervebo has also been awarded prequalification status by the World Health Organization (WHO).