U.S. Stockpiles Two Bird Flu Vaccines
- by Carolyn Hendler, JD
- Published
- Vaccines
U.S. government health officials announced earlier this month that two bird flu vaccines are being stockpiled and will be available for shipment within weeks. They said that the bird flu stockpiling is part of their emergency preparations in the event the H5N1 virus, which now primarily infects wild birds, chickens and sometimes cows and other animals, mutates and efficiently infects and is transmissible by humans.1
More than 45 dairy cow herds in the U.S. are reported to have been infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus in nine states. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains that the pasteurizing process kills the H5N1 virus should any particles of the virus contaminate cow’s milk. Beef samples are also being monitored by the USDA for signs of H5N1. Animals are inspected prior to being slaughtered and then all meat that is processed into food must pass inspection according to the USDA.2
Demetre Daskalakis, MD director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease (NCIRD) proclaimed that studies “suggest that the vaccines will offer good cross-protection against cattle outbreak viruses.”3
While admitting that bird flu is not easily transmissible between people, Dawn O’Connell, JD, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said:
We’ve been investing in a library of antigens to move out as quickly as possible should we begin to see a highly transmissible flu strain circulate.4
Hundreds of Doses of the Bird Flu Vaccines Could Ship Out Within Weeks
Currently, there are about 100 people being monitored for signs of H5N1 bird flu—all of whom work closely with farm animals. However, O’Connell shared that the government could ship out, “hundreds of thousands of doses” of H5N1 vaccine within a few weeks and over a 100 million doses could be shipped in three or four months if the virus mutates and spreads to more people.5
The two vaccines that are stockpiled are traditional vaccines, while a third one in development is based on mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) technology.6
Michael Osterhelm, PhD, MPH of the Center for Infectious Disease research and Policy at the University of Minnesota warns that the U.S. may not be as prepared for an outbreak as government officials claim. He said:
The first thing we have to do is eliminate the happy talk. I think estimates of stockpiles that currently exist and the potential to use them should this emerge into a human pathogen where it’s transmitted by humans to humans, have unfortunately been overstated. For example, not enough testing has been done yet to know how well the two candidate vaccines would really work, especially since the virus would have likely changed if it becomes a real threat to people, I don’t have a lot of faith that those vaccines will offer a great deal of protection.7
Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, head of Brown University’s Pandemic Center, wants dairy workers to be vaccinated as soon as practicable in an effort to protect them and attempt to prevent the spread of disease.8
mRNA Bird Flu Vaccine Trials Begin
CureVac and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that Phase 1 of a clinical trial of mRNA H5N1 vaccine has begun. Five different dose levels will be compared to a placebo in the early stage of the study. The vaccine is composed of CureVac’s second generation mRNA backbone together with an influenza AH5-antigen.9 The study is intended to assess the safety, immunogenicity and reactogenicity of the novel vaccine in both healthy young and older populations.
Often vaccines developed for a potential future pandemic are pre-approved by federal regulators based on trials like the one conducted by CureVac and GSK. These vaccines may not undergo further testing, even if they are altered due to changing strains of the virus and instead will be evaluated in populations being given the vaccines as they are used in real-time.
In mid 2023, Moderna and CSL Seqirus also began working on a vaccine against the current subtype of H5N1. At that time, the United Nations entered into contracts with 14 manufactures for 10 percent of their pandemic influenza vaccine when they are manufactured.10
Amid Bird Flu Vaccine Stockpiling WHO Presses Nations to Sign Pandemic Treaty
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) announced last week that a deadline had been missed in negotiations on a pandemic treaty that would facilitate the global purchase and distribution of future pandemic vaccines, such as vaccines created during a future bird flu pandemic.11
The treaty and controversial amendments to International Health Regulations (IHR) are being supported by the Biden administration but are facing opposition from groups in the U.S. and other countries charging that the proposed treaty and IHR amendments threaten nation sovereignty because WHO officials will have the power to engage in global electronic surveillance and issue health dictates that include quarantines, vaccine passports and censorship of free speech during a declared pandemic health emergency.12
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