EU secures bird flu vaccine deal as virus spreads to humans
On Tuesday, 11 June, the EU health crisis body is set to sign an agreement with Seqirus. This agreement concerns securing hundreds of thousands of doses of bird flu vaccine tailored for human protection. Politico reports that the first doses of the H5N1 virus preparation are to be sent to Finland.
The bird flu virus continues to mutate. On 30 May, Michigan state authorities confirmed three cases of infection with this pathogen in U.S. citizens. Meanwhile, on 6 June, news broke that the virus killed a 59-year-old Mexican infected with bird flu.
These reports, confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO), were denied by Mexican authorities. The country’s health minister, Jorge Alcocer, criticized WHO's statement and pointed out that the patient suffered from several comorbidities.
Nevertheless, European politicians want to secure the Old Continent in case of another pandemic outbreak. According to journalists from politico.eu, the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) will sign an agreement with Seqirus on Tuesday, 11 June, regarding orders for bird flu vaccines. The contract covers fifteen European Union countries.
The H5N1 bird flu vaccine
An anonymous official, cited by Politico journalists, claims that the first batch of vaccines will be sent to Finland immediately. There are suspicions that local mink farm workers were at risk of being infected with the H5N1 virus from contaminated animals.
In April, the adapted animal flu vaccine from Seqirus received support from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). HERA, which has been in talks with Seqirus for months, contacted the pharmaceutical company last year to request an animal flu vaccine update. This was to add the bird flu strain.
The agreement for the supply of bird flu virus vaccines is to cover 640,000 doses. One of the contract points mentions the purchase of up to 40 million doses over the next four years.
