The UK is preparing more than five million vaccine doses in case there is a bird flu pandemic as “early access to vaccines saves lives.”
Vaccines for the human H5 influenza will only be used if the H5NI strand of the virus spreads amongst humans.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said there is no evidence at this time of any human-to-human transmission of the virus, and they have the contract for the vaccines.
The UKHSA said they are preparing now which is part of “long-established plans” to provide the UK with vaccines “for a wider range of pathogens of pandemic potential.”
Sky News reports that Dr Meera Chand, of the UKHSA said, “early access to vaccines saves lives.”
“It is important for us to be prepared against a range of different influenza viruses that may pose human health risks,” she added.
“Adding H5 vaccines to the interventions already available to us will help us to be ready for a wider range of threats.”
The UKHSA said there is different types of the H5NI virus that could cause a “prolonged global outbreak.”
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group at the University of Oxford, said the emergence of new strain is at the “top of the list of pandemic threats” should there be an outbreak in the UK.
“So providing resilience against potential risky flu types, like H5, is important for future pandemic and outbreak preparedness,” he added.
“H5 is only one of the multiple families of flu viruses that create such a risk, so we should not be complacent.
“But H5 is the one that we are most concerned about today as a result of the global spread of this virus among birds and various mammals, and worryingly across the US among cattle this year.”
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