Sierra Leone’s Ebola Vaccination Trial: From Development to Vaccination in Record Time
In the midst of the most devastating Ebola epidemic in history—one that has taken the lives of more than 10,000 people in West Africa—there is a small team in Sierra Leone that is looking forward. The team hopes to find a safe, effective vaccine that could prevent this tragedy from occurring again. They are members of STRIVE, the Sierra Leone Trial to Introduce a Vaccine against Ebola, a partnership between the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Sanitation, the University of Sierra Leone’s College of Medicine and Allied Health Science (COMAHS) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Working in five of the hardest hit districts of Sierra Leone, the STRIVE team is doing something remarkable—conducting Sierra Leone’s first clinical trial ever to help find a safe and effective vaccine against Ebola. A vaccine trial usually takes years to plan and conduct, but the STRIVE team has launched this study, with high ethical and safety standards, in just a matter of months during a public health crisis that has left no corner of Sierra Leone untouched.
This ordinary building, tucked into a corner of the UNICEF compound in Freetown contains the cold storage depot for vaccine that is being supplied to seven study sites in five districts in Sierra Leone: the two Western Districts (rural and urban) and selected chiefdoms in Tonkolili, Bombali and Port Loko.
Vaccine Freezers
Dr. Mohamed Bawoh, Lead Pharmacist, Sierra Leone Ministry of Health and Santiation, manages the preparation and transport of vaccine at the cold storage depot at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS).
single dose syringe
vaccine labels
digital thermometer
ARKTECK transport shippers
STRIVE Study sign
STRIVE Enrollment Manager Laura Ezoe-Deen
Isata Charm, a study screener at the Connaught Hospital vaccine site in Freetown
STRIVE envelope
state-of-the art program on computer tablets funded by the CDC Foundation.
CryoQ packed vaccine
Benjamin Abraham Kamara (on the right)is a quarantine officer and Salieu Sesay (in the red shirt) works in an Ebola treatment unit.
Benjamin Kamara is vaccinated by a nurse.
After receiving the vaccine, Benjamin Kamara waits while Nurse Rashidatu Bundu fills out paperwork for the study. Prior to joining the STRIVE team, Ms. Bundu worked in in a government hospital in Kenema, a district in Sierra Leone that was heavily affected by Ebola.
Once vaccinated, participants are observed for an hour to make sure they do not have any serious reactions. Before they leave, participants are given a mobile phone to help them stay in touch with study staff if they have any questions or health concerns.
College of Medicine after renovation
Data entry clerks track numbers and demographic information about enrollees, ensure that any adverse events are recorded, and that data is verified.
Study Nurses Sign
Study nurses, like Ramata B. Kanneh, pictured here at the Conference Center, also coordinate medical care at no cost for participants who call with an illness.
