MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Six prototypes of a bird flu vaccine, created in case the virus starts circulating among humans, are currently being prepared for preclinical trials in Russia, the country’s chief sanitary doctor said.
"Considering what is happening in the world right now, and reports of growing number of cases and increased risks, we are, of course, working on variants of the vaccine. There are six prototypes at this point, and, at present, we are getting ready for preclinical trials. They won’t be very hard and complicated, because the mechanism is already tested and proven," the head of the Russian Federal State Agency for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor), Anna Popova, said.
"An important question remains to be solved: what exactly genetic variant should be targeted by the vaccine. The basic variant is H5NX, in other words, [the goal is] to have a prototype against any genetic variant with different types of neuraminidase," she said.
Popova sees no need to launch industrial production of such prototypes, because the spillover event - when a virus overcomes biological barriers to become feasible in another species - has not yet taken place.
"However, we need to be ready to produce lots of effective vaccines within a short timeframe. This is what our colleagues are working on," Popova said.