The United States and European nations are taking steps to acquire or manufacture H5N1 bird flu vaccines that could be used to protect poultry and dairy workers, veterinarians, and lab technicians who are at risk of exposure to the virus. This move by government officials is aimed at curbing the threat of a potential pandemic.
U.S. officials have said they are moving bulk vaccine from CSL Seqirus that closely matches the current virus into finished shots that could provide 4.8 million doses of the vaccine. European health officials have told Reuters they are in talks to acquire CSL’s pre-pandemic vaccine as well.
In Canada, health officials have met with GSK, the maker of the country’s seasonal flu shots, to discuss acquiring and manufacturing a pre-pandemic bird flu vaccine once its seasonal flu production capacity is freed up. Other countries, including the UK, are also discussing how to proceed with pre-pandemic vaccines.
These actions follow the rapid spread of a new strain of bird flu that emerged in late 2020 and has caused unprecedented numbers of deaths among wild birds and domestic poultry, as well as beginning to infect many mammal species. In the U.S., the virus has been detected in dairy cattle, with an estimated 20% of the U.S. milk supply showing signs of the virus.
Experts warn that human exposures to the virus in poultry and dairy operations could increase the risk of the virus mutating and gaining the ability to spread easily among people, which could lead to a pandemic. Vaccinating at-risk workers is seen as a crucial step in preventing such an event.
Matthew Miller, co-director of the Canadian Pandemic Preparedness Hub, stated, “All of our efforts need to be focused on preventing those events from happening. Once we have widespread infections of humans, we’re in big trouble.”
Discussions about the use of pre-pandemic vaccines are ongoing at the government level and among scientists in several countries, as they work to address the growing threat posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus.