Federal government seeks to produce avian flu vaccine in large quantities

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – A vaccine to stop bird flu in humans is a tactic that might significantly affect farms in Iowa, one of the nation’s leading chicken-producing states.

Over $70 million is being invested by the federal government to develop a bird flu vaccine for human vaccination. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, according to Sam Jarvis of the Johnson County Department of Public Health, is set up to make sure that bird flu vaccinations are developed just in case.

Jarvis compares it to the COVID-19 vaccination. In order to create a vaccine against a coronavirus virus, researchers had an early advantage. According to Jarvis, it can take years to create a workable vaccine from the ground up. Thus, taking action now will shorten the projected timescale and maybe save lives.

“We see our federal partners looking to prepare and make sure that we have those logistics in place should we need to allocate or dispense vaccines like most people are familiar with now,” Jarvis explained, “and this is really part of that infrastructure.”

By the end of the next year, the US Director of Preparedness and Response for Infectious Diseases estimates that this funding will assist in producing 10 million doses of the flu vaccine for humans.