Why Guinea-Bissau halted a controversial hepatitis vaccine trial for babies

Guinea-Bissau has reportedly halted a US-funded hepatitis B vaccine trial that planned to delay vaccination for one group of babies until they were six weeks old. About 14,000 infants were expected to take part in the study, funded with $1.6m from the CDC, and would be followed for five years. The government paused the project in January after widespread criticism, and judicial police raided the Bissau facilities of the Bandim Health Project in October and seized vaccine batches. A researcher involved said the trial did not receive the required government approval, while authorities continue investigating whether it met safety standards.