The WHO is accelerating its plans for a new range of mRNA vaccines for H5N1 bird flu
The World Health Organization has announced a new project to accelerate the development of mRNA vaccines for bird flu, so they can be distributed in poor countries around the world.
The project, which aims to develop mRNA vaccines for the H5N1 strain, will be led by Argentinian company Sinergium Biotech.
Sinergium will establish a “proof of concept” with preclinical models, before sharing its data with manufacturers in poorer countries so they can manufacture vaccines themselves.
The UN health agency said the project would be implemented through the mRNA technology transfer program it established with the UN-backed Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program’s goal was to help low- and middle-income countries to develop and produce their own vaccines using new mRNA technology. It involves 15 manufacturing partners in countries from South Africa to Ukraine and Vietnam.
“This initiative exemplifies why WHO established the mRNA Technology Transfer Program,” said the agency’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in a statement.
“When the next pandemic arrives, the world will be better prepared to mount a more effective and more equitable response.”
Meanwhile, a new study has shown that people who received an mRNA COVID vaccine are at a 620% increased risk of myocarditis and a 175% increased risk of pericarditis.
Researchers in South Korea looked at health data for over nine million South Koreans, and found that those who received mRNA vaccinations for COVID were a significantly elevated risk for a variety of cardiac and neurological conditions.
As well as the significant increases in risk for myo- and pericarditis given above, individuals who received an mRNA vaccination were at 62% increased risk for Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare neurological condition.
There was also a 16% increased risk of the most common form of lupus and a 58% risk of bullous pemphigoid, a blistering skin condition. Booster shots were associated with increased risks of autoimmune conditions such as alopecia areata (hair loss), psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Another South Korean study recently found significant increases in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive impairment in individuals given mRNA COVID vaccines.
