Some of the largest vaccine companies in the developed world are reportedly preparing avian flu H5N1 shots for humans in case the virus were to mutate and become easily transmissible from person to person.
Vaccine makers GSK, Moderna, and CSL Seqirus told Reuters that they have begun developing or are about to test new human shots to target the currently circulating version of the virus. Others, such as Sanofi, said they have vaccines for the H5N1 virus in stock and “stand ready” to produce up-to-date shots based on existing ones.
Notably, Moderna said its H5N1 vaccines will be made using the same mRNA technology used in its COVID-19 vaccines. The Massachusetts-based company plans to start testing the bird flu shots on humans in the first half of 2023 and could “very quickly” in an outbreak scenario, reported Reuters, citing Raffael Nachbagauer, Moderna’s executive director of infectious diseases….