The US Department of HHS is awarding the pharmaceutical company Moderna $590 million to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu.

No person-to-person spread has been detected, but that doesn’t mean an H5N1 avian influenza pandemic isn’t possible or even probable.

The government wants Moderna to push forward with various bird flu vaccines as well as mRNA shots for other influenza strains with pandemic potential.

The Department of Health and Human Services has granted millions of dollars to Moderna to speed up bird flu vaccine development.

Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, health officials said.

In 2023, Moderna initiated a study on a “pandemic influenza vaccine” to protect against H5 and H7 avian influenza viruses ... Biden-Harris Administration and HHS,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement Friday. “Accelerating the ...

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will award roughly $590 million to Moderna to accelerate the development of mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines, including vaccines for avian flu strains, to ensure the United States is better prepared for future potential pandemics, according to a recent HHS news release.

The government is working to head off human bird flu infections. The U.S. government has awarded Moderna $590 million to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine, as the country doubles down on efforts to tackle increasing infections in humans.

The U.S. government has awarded Moderna $590 million to advance the development of its bird flu vaccine, as the country doubles down on efforts to tackle increasing infections in humans.

Bird flu was first detected in domestic birds in 1996 in Southern China and has since spread to wild birds, mammals, and humans worldwide, with a fatality rate reaching 50% in some cases. In the U.S., cases have been mostly mild, affecting primarily poultry and dairy workers, until this recent death in Louisiana.

Last Friday, HHS announced it will provide approximately $590 million to Moderna to accelerate the development of mRNA-based pandemic influenza vaccines and enhance mRNA platform capabilities so the U.S. is better prepared to respond to other emerging infectious diseases, according to a release from HHS.

The first human death from bird flu in the United States occurred on Jan. 6 in a Louisiana hospital, less than three weeks before the second Donald Trump administration’s inauguration.