Spain is not participating in the latest European procurement of avian flu vaccines

The first batches of the drug will be sent to Finland, the only country the European Commission has named as the buyer under confidentiality agreements. The Spanish Ministry of Health confirmed this Wednesday to ABC that Spain did not participate in this initial purchase, although it is possible that it will do so later.

In the countries that purchased it, there are now active outbreaks of bird flu and for them this is an emergency situation, explains a representative of the Ministry of Health, assuring that the government has opened the possibility of participating in a joint purchase in order to have a strategic reserve of vaccines. “There is currently no outbreak of avian influenza in Spain and this is not a priority,” they explain.

The European acquisition is aimed at providing additional capacity to national authorities, although it does not prevent member states from procuring other batches of vaccines themselves.

The purchased drug is intended to protect the farm animal handlers or veterinarians who are currently most exposed to the virus responsible for the most severe episode of avian influenza in the last two decades.

This is Celldemic, a pre-pandemic vaccine approved last February by the European Medicines Agency and based on a strain of bird flu that was already circulating in 2005. The laboratory that sells it is CLSSeqirus, a pharmaceutical company with over a century of experience. Experience in the production of influenza vaccines. Two doses are required and can be used from six months of age if necessary to protect the families and environment of workers.

“Moderate” risk for professionals

In Europe, health authorities classify the risk of avian influenza as “low” for the general population and “moderate” for those in direct contact with infected animals, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). the body that monitors health in Europe.

It is unknown how long it will take the virus to become pandemic, but H5N1 has been evolving for more than two decades. During this time, it went from infecting wild birds to transmitting it to mammals. Infections in humans are rare and sustained community transmission has not yet occurred, which is when we may be faced with a possible pandemic. The latest data from the World Health Organization shows that from January 1, 2023 to May 3, 2024, there were 889 human cases of infection worldwide, of which 463 were fatal. Of this spate of cases in Spain in 2022, only two cases of infection were recorded among recovered poultry farmers.

Strategic reserve

Like the United States and Great Britain, the European Commission did not want to stand on the sidelines and prepare for the scenario that worries experts. In addition to this latest procurement, the European Commission has already signed joint procurement contracts with pharmaceutical companies Seqirus in 2019 and GSK in 2022 for their influenza vaccines: Foclivia and Adjupanrix, respectively. In total, there will be a strategic reserve of 111 million doses.

This reserve will contain both vaccines intended to protect the population most exposed to the virus and vaccines intended to save thousands of lives if a pandemic is declared. One of the most interesting is the vaccine or platform developed by Seqirus called Incellipan, which will allow it to quickly adapt to the virus circulating at the time. This platform will allow millions of doses to be produced quickly.