The hidden CDC trial data for Jynneos vaccine, aka Imvamune, Imvanex and MVA-BN

Why did they keep changing the name? MVA stands for an old vaccine "Modified Vaccinia Ankara," used in 2003 for US soldiers at high risk of reactions to other smallpox vaccines.

CDC performed a clinical trial of Jynneos (= MVA-BN)(= Imvamune) in 1000 Congolese healthcare workers from 2017-2020. However, CDC has covered up the safety and efficacy data from that trial. Below CDC bragged about the trial in a 2018 publication after it commenced. There should have been plenty of safety data with 1,000 subjects, down from the proposed 1600. Did the trial stop early due to safety issues?

There was a Clinicaltrials.gov posting that said the trial had ended in 2020. I linked to it in 2022.

ADDENDUM: This is what CDC promised it would do in the above paper:

Serologic monitoring of study participants will continue at roughly 6-month intervals until the two-year timepoint is reached. Until that time, the study team will continue to collect information pertaining to participants’ occupational exposures to MPX cases—presumptive and confirmed—, MPX infection status, and possible vaccine adverse events. Finally, as a surrogate measure for immunization efficacy, we will measure participants’ serum orthopoxvirus antibody titers and will assess whether specific participant characteristics (e.g., age, sex, prior smallpox immunization) are associated with more enduring antibody levels…

Understanding the performance parameters of IMVAMUNE [one of the many earlier names of Jynneos—Nass] under conditions of natural orthopoxvirus transmission will build confidence in its use as a preventive measure for many populations potentially at risk, including HCWs, and, in the future, perhaps hunters or other groups with elevated risk.

But CDC bureaucrats know 6 ways from Sunday how to CYA. So CDC replaced that old Clinicaltrials.gov post (which said the trial was completed) with a new one, which claims this is an ongoing trial, and they are now seeking those additional 600 subjects that were not recruited in 2017-2020. Hmmm. They will give these new subjects a newer version of the vaccine, which is freeze-dried by Bavarian Nordic. And now they don’t need to explain why the 2017 trial has never reported its data. A win-win for CDC.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02977715

Magically it morphed from a 3 year long study to an almost 9 year long study. From a study of one vaccine formulation to a study of 2 vaccine formulations. From 1000 subjects to 1600 subjects. If you are CDC you can perform magic with your clinical trials.

NIH decided to perform a similar study, again using Congolese as subjects, to assess the safety of the vaccine, this year. Using a different name of the vaccine. Just for safety, not efficacy. Phase 1. Hmmm.

But when you go back to what was posted in 2018, you see the plan for the original trial, which was to conclude in February 2020—whose data have been hidden ever since.

But now the very same trial is not supposed to end till 12/31/25, so it will be at least 2 years before we learn what happened to the vaccinees from 2017-2020.

Here is the 2018 version of the trial: