CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – A vaccine to prevent avian influenza in humans is a strategy that could have a big impact on farms in Iowa, the nation’s largest poultry producer.
The federal government is investing more than $70 million to produce an avian influenza vaccine to inoculate people. Sam Jarvis with the Johnson County Public Health Department said the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is designed to ensure the production of an avian influenza vaccine just in case.
Jarvis says it’s like a vaccine for COVID-19. Researchers have begun developing a vaccine against the coronavirus. Jarvis said that in the world of vaccines, it can take years to start from scratch and develop a working product. So starting now can shorten your timeline and potentially save lives.
“This is really part of the infrastructure and making sure that our federal partners have those logistics in place in case we need to allocate or distribute vaccines as most people know right now. “We believe that this is the case,” Jarvis said.
The head of the US Infectious Disease Control and Response Agency says the funding will allow the country to produce 10 million doses of the new strain of influenza for human use by the end of next year.
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