Finland is the first country to vaccinate people against bird flu

On June 25, Finnish health authorities announced that the country plans to vaccinate some workers who come into contact with animals against bird flu as early as next week.

Chicken farm.

Finland will be the first country in the world to implement this.

Finland has purchased bird flu vaccines for 10,000 people, according to the European Commission (EC). This is part of a joint plan by the European Union (EU) to purchase 40 million doses of vaccine from manufacturer CSL Seqirus for 15 member states.

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) said the vaccine will be used for people aged 18 and over who are at high risk of bird flu infection due to work or other reasons.

In recent years, the H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed or culled hundreds of millions of birds globally and is increasingly spreading to mammals, including cattle herds in the United States.

Some cases of human infection have also been recorded. However, according to THL, the virus has not been detected in humans in Finland. The country wants to deploy vaccinations to prevent the risk of transmission from fur farms.

In 2023, fur farms in Finland, which are mainly outdoor, had to cull about 485,000 animals to prevent the virus from spreading between animals and to humans.