The vaccines are expected to go to lab technicians and workers with exposure to animals, including fur and poultry farmers.
Finland plans to offer preemptive bird flu vaccinations to certain workers exposed to animals as early as next week, marking a global first, according to health authorities.
The Nordic nation has secured vaccines for 10,000 individuals, each requiring two doses, as part of a collective EU purchase of up to 40 million doses from manufacturer CSL Seqirus, involving 15 countries.
In a statement to Reuters, the Australian company confirmed that Finland would be the pioneering country to implement this vaccination.
“The vaccine will be offered to those aged 18 or over who are at increased risk of contracting avian influenza due to their work or other circumstances,” the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) stated.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has caused the deaths or culling of hundreds of millions of poultry worldwide in recent years and has increasingly spread to mammals, including cases in cows in the United States and occasionally humans.
Although Finland has not detected the virus in humans, the country is proactive in vaccinating due to the transmission risks from its fur farms.
“The conditions in Finland are very different in that we have fur farms where the animals can end up in contact with wildlife,” Chief Physician Hanna Nohynek of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) told Reuters.
Significant bird flu outbreaks among mink and foxes at Finland’s predominantly open-air fur farms led to the culling of approximately 485,000 animals last year to prevent the virus from spreading among animals and to humans.
Vaccinations are expected to commence next week in certain regions of Finland, according to a THL spokesperson.
The Finnish government has procured vaccines for those at risk, including workers at fur and poultry farms, lab technicians handling bird flu samples, and veterinarians serving as animal control officers in regions with fur farms.
Additionally, individuals working in wildlife sanctuaries, livestock farms, or involved in cleaning facilities such as animal by-products processing plants will be offered the vaccine, as stated by THL.
In the event of human infection of avian influenza, close contacts of suspected or confirmed cases will also be offered the vaccine.
Reference: Finland will be the first country to offer bird flu vaccinations
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