GOP lawmaker: Test Ebola vaccine on me

A Republican congressman said he wants to participate in a clinical trial for the first Ebola vaccine but was rejected because of his age. 

Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) joked about the issue Wednesday at a congressional roundtable with Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

{mosads}In a lighthearted open to his remarks, Burgess, 63, volunteered to receive a dose of the experimental vaccine designed to prevent Ebola infection. 

“You’ve rejected me on age criteria before,” he told Collins to laughs in the room. 

“I thought that was obviously discriminatory on your part, but I still stand ready to [take part in the trial].” 

Lawmakers met with federal health officials to discuss cures for the disease and how best to encourage their development. 

The event, hosted by the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, is part of the panel’s bipartisan “21st Century Cures” initiative. 

The NIH is speeding up tests on potential Ebola vaccines as a major outbreak of the disease worsens in West Africa. 

A phase-one trial began last week with a group of volunteers receiving vaccine injections. 

Collins said it would take two or three months to assess whether the vaccine is safe before it can be tested on the ground in Africa.