Experimental mRNA Bird Flu Vaccines are Being Considered for Humans and Poultry

Experimental mRNA vaccines are being created and stockpiled for potential use in humans and poultry against Bird Flu (H5N1). The CDC maintains that the risk of human infection is low. Two human cases have been detected in the United States from dairy workers who contracted the virus through infected cattle. The likelihood of the virus transmitting between humans is very low despite the human cases detected.

Moderna is in the process of getting 10s of millions of government funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for a late-stage mRNA avian influenza vaccine.

Scott Hensley, a Microbiologist at the Pennsylvania School of Medicine, has a lab with Drew Weissman and has been working on an mRNA vaccine for H5N1 that he is excited about. Bill Gates wrote about Weissman in his blog and credits him as a researcher who paved the way for the invention of lipid nanoparticles and mRNA technology. Weissman participated in an NIH fellowship under the supervision of Dr. Anthony Fauci. 

Hensley and Weissman believe the mRNA technology is an exciting option for a Bird Flu vaccine because it doesn’t require the use of chicken eggs. In the United States, it would take 900,000 chickens laying eggs every day for nine months to get enough vaccines to prepare for a potential pandemic. They say the mRNA technology will allow quick research, development, and production of vaccines when time is of the essence.

These vaccines are not only being considered for use in humans in the event that the virus mutates into the human population but they are also being considered for use on poultry farms. Shayan Sharif, a veterinary professor in Ontario, said last summer that there haven’t been any studies to prove eating animals vaccinated with mRNA vaccines is safe. Despite that, he thinks there is no evidence that there would be any risk. He said it is essential for experts in government and academia to “nip this in the bud and make sure there is no myth around mRNA vaccines for livestock.”

The HighWire has reported multiple studies showing adverse complications from the mRNA shots developed for COVID-19. Stephanie Seneff discussed how the mRNA shots are linked to brain disease and death. Ryan Cole appeared on the show to discuss how Pfizer’s mRNA vaccines reprogram innate immune responses. There were also reports last fall about DNA contamination within the mRNA vaccines, although that was downplayed by public health officials.

In January, The HighWire reported about Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo’s letter to the FDA advocating a halt to the COVID-19 vaccines due to concerns about DNA integration. Ladapo pointed out the contradiction between the FDA’s response and its own guidance about the potential for DNA integration to “transform a healthy cell into a cancerous one.”

Dr. Peter Marks downplayed Dr. Ladapo’s concerns by saying there is no genotoxicity from the residual DNA fragments. Dr. Ladapo said genotoxicity studies “which are inadequate assessments for DNA integration risk. In addition, they obfuscated the difference between the SV40 promoter/enhancer and SV40 proteins, two elements that are distinct.”

Another mRNA vaccine is in development in case of an emergency. Operation Warp Speed was implemented by President Trump and health officials to fast track a COVID-19 vaccine amidst the global pandemic. That program received criticism from multiple doctors and scientists, including Dr. Pierre Kory and Dr. Robert Malone. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccine did not go through the typical clinical trials that are necessary for other vaccines to be approved for public use. Instead, the government applied an emergency use authorization to allow quick distribution of the mRNA vaccines.

It is unclear whether the latest mRNA vaccine would undergo the typical steps to gain FDA approval or be fast-tracked via the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) protocol. The messaging from the health agencies has been mixed. The CDC says the risk of transmission to the human population is low. However, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf said it is important to prepare vaccines in an emergency.

While there are concerns regarding the safety of experimental vaccines that are rushed to the market for humans, there is also apprehension about consuming meat or animal products that come from livestock or poultry that have received mRNA vaccines.

There haven’t been any studies to demonstrate that it is safe. Sharif said there is no evidence that there would be any risk of eating animals vaccinated with mRNA. The taxpaying public may assume that products on the market have been adequately tested and deemed safe. The question is whether the makers of the product need to be shown that there is evidence of a safety hazard to test for that particular safety risk. The mRNA technology is still considered experimental, which implies there is a level of uncertainty about how the product will perform when injected into animals or humans.

That is the concern Dr. Ladapo had when he wrote his letter to the FDA about the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. According to Ladapo, the issue of DNA integration has not been fully addressed or adequately tested. Dr. Philip Buckhaults also has the same concerns and applauded Dr. Ladapo’s leadership on the issue. Dr. Buckhaults, however, didn’t believe the vaccine should be taken off the market. He said he would call for complete informed consent and still recommend the product for at-risk populations.

The public trust in scientists has declined since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Pew Research poll from November, only 57% of the respondents believed that science has a “mostly positive” effect compared to 73% before the start of the pandemic. The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic has been investigating the pandemic’s origins and found scientists at the highest level of the NIH attempting to bypass FOIA requests by communicating through a “back channel.”

Scientists and public health officials may have a difficult time convincing the public to take an experimental H5N1 mRNA vaccine without demonstrating they have done adequate safety testing.