Canada will donate the Ebola vaccine to WHO

Canada will donate a small amount of experimental Ebola vaccine that it invented to the World Health Organization for use in Africa.

The Canadian government will donate 800 to 1,000 vaccine doses to the World Health Organization (WHO), Reuters quoted Rona Ambrose, the country's health minister, yesterday. The final number depends on how many doses Canada needs to retain to serve clinical and research trials. Canada also retains a small amount in case it needs to be used in the country.

A Spanish Ebola patient was taken to hospital in Madrid, after being infected with the virus in Africa.(Photo: Reuters)

Professor Greg Taylor, head of Canada's Public Health Agency, said the country has about 1,500 doses of vaccine and it will take 4 to 6 months to produce large quantities. According to Mr. Taylor, Canada invented this vaccine a few years ago but it has only been proven effective in animals, has not been tested on humans.

"You really don't know how safe it is, you don't know what its side effects will be. However, in the current special situation in Africa, we're trying to do everything we can to support it. " Mr. Taylor said. He said the first doses may be for health workers.

The decision to donate vaccines came after the WHO announced that giving untreated drugs to people infected with the virus was moral. The Public Health Agency of Canada is also involved in making Zmapp, an experimental drug to cure Ebola, which has been used to treat two infected American aid workers. The United States is developing a vaccine and WHO and related governments are discussing the possibility of use in Africa.