The first UK volunteers have received an H5N1 bird flu vaccine in a trial aimed at preparing for a possible future flu pandemic.
The first volunteers in the UK have received an experimental vaccine designed to protect against H5N1 bird flu, a strain scientists are watching because of its potential to trigger a future pandemic.
The vaccine targets a virus that has hit bird populations worldwide and has also been detected in some mammals. UK health officials say the risk to people remains low, with nearly all human infections linked to close contact with infected animals rather than spread between people.
The trial is focused on people considered most at risk, including poultry workers and adults over 65. It is expected to enrol 4,000 volunteers, with three-quarters recruited across 26 sites in England and Scotland and the remainder in the United States.
Clare Howard, a Hampshire chicken keeper, was among the first participants vaccinated at a clinic in Southampton. “It was quite easy and it could be something that ultimately proves incredibly important,” she said.
The shot uses mRNA technology, the same platform used in widely deployed Covid vaccines. Researchers say that approach could allow a vaccine to be produced and adjusted more quickly if the virus changed in ways that made widespread human transmission more likely.
Dr Rebecca Clark, the trial’s national co-ordinating investigator, said H5N1 was “evolving and spreading across animal species” and that human-to-human transmission had to be treated as a real possibility even though the virus does not currently move easily between people.
The study will assess whether the vaccine is safe and whether it produces a strong immune response. If those results are positive, the vaccine could later be licensed for use if needed.
There have been 116 confirmed human cases worldwide since 2024, almost all tied to contact with infected animals. Since 2003, about 1,000 confirmed human cases have been reported to the World Health Organization, with nearly half proving fatal, though a more recent strain circulating in the United States has been associated with milder symptoms, including eye inflammation.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is providing £40m for the trial. Under the arrangement, Moderna has agreed to provide fast and affordable supply to low- and middle-income countries if a future pandemic requires use of the vaccine.
If needed, the vaccine would be made at Moderna’s plant at Harwell in Oxfordshire, which currently produces Covid vaccines for the UK. The facility can produce 100 million vaccine doses a year, with capacity that could rise to 250 million doses during a pandemic.
For now, the central questions are whether the vaccine proves safe, whether it generates strong protection in volunteers and whether H5N1 changes in a way that increases the threat to humans.
Comments (0)