Two Ebola vaccines deemed acceptably safe: WHO

Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said two vaccines, which have already undergone the first phrase of testing, have an acceptable safety profile.

"The year 2014 will be remembered as a year the Ebola virus challenged humanity, I believe 2015 will be remembered as a year humanity used our best scientific minds to fight back," Kieny told a press conference at WHO's headquarters.

WHO convened the second high-level meeting on Ebola vaccines Thursday to provide an update on the emerging safety and immunogenicity results of the initial clinical trials and review the status of preparation for the next stage of efficacy trials in the three most-affected West African countries.

The two potential vaccines that have been undergoing phase one safety tests on humans are ChAd3, made by Britain's GlaxoSmithKline, and VSV-EBOV, manufactured by the Public Health Agency of Canada and licensed by U.S. firm NewLink Genetics.

Kieny said the evaluation of these two advanced vaccines is ongoing, noting trials may begin in Liberia by the end of this month, and in Sierra Leone and Guinea in February.

In addition, she also noted one vaccine developed by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson started early-stage testing of its vaccine and was preparing for advanced testing in the Ebola-affected countries.

"The world is waiting for us to get these vaccines ready and out to people with this virus raging through their communities," she added.

As of Friday, the total number of cases attributed to Ebola virus disease in West Africa has reached 20,972, of which are 8,259 deaths.