Remember when Ebola was a hot topic of conversation a couple of years ago? Well, the virus never went away, social media just stopped giving it as much attention. In fact, the Ebola outbreak that began back in 2014 in West Africa has killed more than 11,000 people. In fact, the fatality rate of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is 67%. It goes without saying that Ebola is a real problem on the continent and thankfully, there’s been a breakthrough.

The European Union today granted an Ebola vaccine known as Ervebo “conditional marketing authorization.” What this means is that the vaccine, which is developed by pharmaceutical company Merck, has been given the green light by the EU in spite of the fact that it has less comprehensive data than would normally be required. With prelimenary tests of the drug showing the vaccine to be 100% effective during trials done in Guinea, the benefits outweigh the risks.

With The World Health Organization (WHO) declaring Ebola a public health emergency of international concern in July, this announcement couldn’t have come sooner. Merck, who also donated more than 250,000 doses to The WHO, plans to begin the manufacturing of Ervebo in Germany starting Q3 2020. The news is no doubt a victory for the field of biomedical technology.