Ottawa purchases 500,000 doses of bird flu vaccine for people at higher risk of catching virus

Ottawa has purchased half a million doses of a bird flu vaccine that will be distributed to farm workers and others at higher risk of catching the potentially dangerous virus, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced Wednesday.PHAC tapped an existing agreement with the pharmaceutical company GSK to secure 500,000 doses of a human vaccine designed to protect against a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza that has decimated poultry farms across North America and spread to hundreds of dairy cattle herds in the United States.“By making human vaccines against avian influenza available for potential use in individuals at increased risk of exposure to avian influenza as part of our readiness, we are enhancing our capacity to protect people in Canada and respond rapidly to emerging public health challenges,” Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said in a statement.