Hopes for an Ebola vaccine received a shot in the arm today after clinical data revealed that a trial vaccine had managed to protect volunteers from the virus eight months after being immunised.

Results of the Phase 1 study, which was led by the University of Oxford’s Vaccine Group, were published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

The experimental vaccine involves a two-step immunisation process, with volunteers first receiving a shot developed by Johnson & Johnson and subsequently another one created by Bavarian Nordic A/S. The first vaccine was designed to prime their immune system, with the second aimed at boosting volunteers’ immune response.

It is the second trial vaccine to show clinical promise. Last January, Merck&Co. submitted its experimental vaccine for regulatory approval – something it is hoping to receive by the end of 2017. That vaccine was also 100 per cent effective in trials.

Johnson & Johnson and Bavarian Nordic A/S have rushed to produce two million doses of their vaccine as a safety measure against potential future outbreaks, though they will continue to study the vaccine regime’s safety.

The 2014 Ebola outbreak killed over 11,000 people and left large swathes of West Africa crippled. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa began in March 2014 and put the health care systems of Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea under tremendous pressure. More than 28,600 individuals were infected with the virus across Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, and more than 11,300 people died - including more than 500 healthcare workers.

Maltese medical experts have said that the likelihood of the virus reaching Malta is very low. At the height of the outbreak, Mater Dei hospital had upgraded its high-security isolation room and trained doctors and nurses in how to handle any eventual cases. 

The World Health Organisation brought the global public health emergency to an end last February, but flare-ups continue in Guinea and Liberia, and the WHO has warned of the danger of future outbreaks.

"The Ebola crisis in West Africa left a huge human cost, we continue to see flare-ups of this disease, and the world needs to be far better prepared for the next major outbreak," said Paul Stoffels of Johnsson & Johnsson.

The research was funded by a consortium including the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the University of Oxford, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research and the US National Institute of Health.