Those Ebola Vaccines in Testing Now? You Can Thank Dick Cheney for That

Melissa Quinn
The Daily Signal
10/24/2014

Democrats looking to blame Republicans for the lack of an Ebola vaccine may owe Dick Cheney an apology.

It turns out that as vice president, Cheney was the driving force behind more funding for the National Institutes of Health that helped lead to the development of Ebola vaccines being tested today.

From the time scientists first discovered the deadly virus in 1976 to 2012, two dozen outbreaks of Ebola claimed the lives of roughly 1,500 people–far less than the nearly 5,000 killed in the current outbreak in West Africa.

Bloomberg News reports that little money had been available to scientists to work on finding a cure to the disease. But after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Cheney, anticipating the potential for bioterrorist attacks, became the Bush White House’s point man advocating more spending to protect the nation from deadly pathogens…

The article continues at The Daily Signal.

Update:  The Canadian Ebola vaccine that was shelved for TEN YEARS despite being 100% effective – and is only now being rushed through human trials

…The intellectual property rights for the vaccine belong to the Government of Canada, and NewLink, a private company that owns the licensing rights to the vaccine, has the responsibility to produce mass quantities and to bring the vaccine to clinical trials.

‘On October 13, 2014, the Government of Canada announced the start of clinical trials for the vaccine at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the United States,’ the Canadian Health Agency said.

‘These trials will provide critical information about the safety of the vaccine and appropriate dosage.
‘Results from the clinical trial are expected in December 2014.’ …

 
Jim Jordan Presses HHS Official on WFB Reporting of Wasteful NIH Spending (video)

…During Friday’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on the Ebola crisis, Jordan grilled Lurie on more than $39 million wasted at the NIH that could have been used in preparing the U.S. for a potential Ebola outbreak.

“Are you familiar with the story that says ’39 million dollars worth of NIH funding that could have gone to an Ebola vaccine’? Are you familiar with that story?” Jordan asked.

Lurie said she was “not familiar with the details of grant programs” at the NIH. After rattling off a litany of embarrassingly wasteful programs, Jordan cut to the chase…