Vaccine Makers Prepare Bird Flu Shots 'Just in Case'
2023-03-21
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Some of the world's leading vaccine makers are developing bird flu shots to prepare for possible outbreaks of the sickness in humans.
2Bird flu, or avian flu, is officially known as H5N1.
3The virus usually spreads among different kinds of poultry.
4Human infections remain very rare.
5But most human cases have been linked to direct contact with infected birds.
6Now, several large vaccine developers are working on bird flu vaccines to prepare for the possibility that the virus could one day jump to humans.
7One current outbreak involves an avian flu version that has already killed record numbers of birds and some other infected animals.
8Officials at three major vaccine manufacturers told Reuters news agency they are already developing and preparing to test vaccines to protect against new bird flu variants.
9The companies include Britain's GSK and CSL Seqirus and U.S.-based Moderna.
10Other vaccine makers told Reuters they "stand ready" to begin production efforts for bird flu if necessary.
11In addition, there has been a push among companies to develop a vaccine to be given directly to poultry.
12Such a market could be much larger than the one for humans.
13Vaccine company officials told Reuters that hundreds of millions of bird flu shots could be manufactured within months if a new variant of the virus starts spreading among humans.
14Health experts have noted, however, that most new vaccine treatments for avian flu would be set aside for wealthy nations that already have existing contracts with shot makers.
15Many countries have pandemic plans in place that call for giving vaccines to the most vulnerable people first while supplies are limited.
16But during COVID-19, many vaccine-rich countries vaccinated large parts of their populations before considering sharing shots.
17Dr. Richard Hatchett is chief executive of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an organization that helps finance vaccine research.
18He told Reuters that possible human bird flu outbreaks could lead to even greater "hoarding and vaccine nationalism" than during the COVID-19 pandemic.
19An international agreement covering pandemic flu sets aside 10 percent of worldwide supply for the World Health Organization to share with low- and middle-income countries.
20But after the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO has sought guarantees of 20 percent of the worldwide supply for use in other pandemics.
21The WHO says it has signed legally-backed agreements with 14 manufacturers for 10 percent of their pandemic flu vaccine.
22The agreements call for the vaccines to be provided as a mix of donated shots and those to be bought by the WHO.
23The agreements include six of the largest seasonal flu manufacturers, such as GSK, Sanofi and CSL Seqirus, the WHO said.
24The WHO did not comment on possible vaccine hoarding during a flu pandemic.
25But it said policies were being developed "so that countries can work together - not in competition with each other" to respond to such a crisis.
26The WHO said it was "fully confident" that manufacturers and member states would follow the policies.
27I'm Bryan Lynn.
1Some of the world's leading vaccine makers are developing bird flu shots to prepare for possible outbreaks of the sickness in humans. 2Bird flu, or avian flu, is officially known as H5N1. The virus usually spreads among different kinds of poultry. Human infections remain very rare. But most human cases have been linked to direct contact with infected birds. 3Now, several large vaccine developers are working on bird flu vaccines to prepare for the possibility that the virus could one day jump to humans. 4One current outbreak involves an avian flu version that has already killed record numbers of birds and some other infected animals. 5Officials at three major vaccine manufacturers told Reuters news agency they are already developing and preparing to test vaccines to protect against new bird flu variants. The companies include Britain's GSK and CSL Seqirus and U.S.-based Moderna. Other vaccine makers told Reuters they "stand ready" to begin production efforts for bird flu if necessary. 6In addition, there has been a push among companies to develop a vaccine to be given directly to poultry. Such a market could be much larger than the one for humans. 7Vaccine company officials told Reuters that hundreds of millions of bird flu shots could be manufactured within months if a new variant of the virus starts spreading among humans. 8Health experts have noted, however, that most new vaccine treatments for avian flu would be set aside for wealthy nations that already have existing contracts with shot makers. 9Many countries have pandemic plans in place that call for giving vaccines to the most vulnerable people first while supplies are limited. But during COVID-19, many vaccine-rich countries vaccinated large parts of their populations before considering sharing shots. 10Dr. Richard Hatchett is chief executive of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), an organization that helps finance vaccine research. He told Reuters that possible human bird flu outbreaks could lead to even greater "hoarding and vaccine nationalism" than during the COVID-19 pandemic. 11An international agreement covering pandemic flu sets aside 10 percent of worldwide supply for the World Health Organization to share with low- and middle-income countries. But after the COVID-19 pandemic, the WHO has sought guarantees of 20 percent of the worldwide supply for use in other pandemics. 12The WHO says it has signed legally-backed agreements with 14 manufacturers for 10 percent of their pandemic flu vaccine. The agreements call for the vaccines to be provided as a mix of donated shots and those to be bought by the WHO. The agreements include six of the largest seasonal flu manufacturers, such as GSK, Sanofi and CSL Seqirus, the WHO said. 13The WHO did not comment on possible vaccine hoarding during a flu pandemic. But it said policies were being developed "so that countries can work together - not in competition with each other" to respond to such a crisis. The WHO said it was "fully confident" that manufacturers and member states would follow the policies. 14I'm Bryan Lynn. 15Reuters reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 16_______________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18poultry - n. chickens and other birds that people breed for meat and eggs 19vulnerable - adj. able to be hurt or at risk of being harmed 20hoard - v. to collect and store a large supply of something, often secretly 21confident - adj. sure about your ability to do things well 22___________________________________________________________________ 23What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 24Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.