Finland is looking to be the first country to begin bird flu vaccinations as early as next week.
The country purchased vaccines for 10,000 people, each of which includes two doses, from CSL Sequirus. The inoculations were part of an EU acquisition of up to 40 million doses for 15 countries.
According to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), 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,” Reuters reported.
THL Chief Physician Hanna Nohynek told the outlet that the conditions of the virus in Finland are “very different,” explaining that the country has “fur farms where the animals can end up in contact with wildlife.”
Swedish journalist Peter Imanuelsen noted that there is not one person in Finland who was infected with the virus.
The U.S. is also developing bird flu vaccines.
Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response at the HHS, Dawn O’Connell, told Barron’s last month that HHS had “begun the process of converting 4.8 million doses of avian influenza vaccine from bulk product in the government’s stockpile to finished doses ready to be administered.”
Pharmaceutical company Moderna shared that the federal government was considering “advancing” its “pandemic flu candidate.”
