When should we start making H5N1 vaccine, and who will make that decision? In short, it’s complicated

STAT May 22, 2024
Helen Branswell

If the H5N1 bird flu virus ever acquires the ability to transmit easily to and among people — keep your fingers crossed that it doesn’t — the world is going to need serious amounts of vaccine. Like, lakes of the stuff.

Some manufacturers have been working with H5N1 viruses for years, producing small batches of doses that have undergone preliminary human testing. Some millions of doses — in the low double digits — have even been stockpiled by the U.S. government.

But deciding when to start producing H5 vaccine at scale, in the quantities needed to vaccinate the world, is no easy feat. It’s a high-cost, high-risk endeavor. Get it right and you save lives. Hesitate, and lives will be...

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