Stability of a Vesicular Stomatitis Virus–Vectored Ebola Vaccine

The live attenuated vesicular stomatitis virus–vectored Ebola vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV is currently undergoing clinical trials in West Africa. The vaccine is to be stored at −70°C or less. Since maintaining the cold chain is challenging in rural areas, the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine's short-term and long-term stability at different temperatures was examined. Different dilutions were tested since the optimal vaccine dosage had not yet been determined at the start of this experiment. The results demonstrate that the original vaccine formulation was stable for 1 week at 4°C and for 24 hours at 25°C. The stability of the vaccine was compromised by both high temperatures and dilution.