Vaccine makers preparing human bird flu shot ‘just in case’ of pandemic
IndependentJUL 2023
The potential for a pandemic of H5N1 is a big worry, and scientists suggest we need to do more to prepare for a possible outbreak. If there was an outbreak in Europe or the US tomorrow, we wouldn't be able to vaccinate the world during 2023 based on the current production process. Current seasonal flu vaccines are not effective against bird flu, but it does appear that the antiviral drug Tamiflu is effective against it in people. It's time to begin responsibly planning for this contingency and ramping up vaccine production.
While H5N1 has been rampaging wild bird and domestic poultry populations worldwide, it's not time to worry about a human pandemic yet. Most likely the virus would need to make some evolutionary steps to achieve this — like spreading to intermediate host mammals and being able to sustain human-to-human transmission. It's prudent to be aware, but there's no cause for alarm yet.