CSL Seqirus, located in Holly Springs, NC., has completed a federal order for 4.8 million doses of H5N1 vaccine stockpiled for emergency administration in the unlikely event that it is required. The vaccine has been distributed in 10-dose vials with an additional 250,000 pre-filled single dose syringes.

The CSL-Seqirus facility prepares seasonal influenza vaccines using cell culture as opposed to traditional egg-embryo propagation.  Each batch of vaccine requires approximately one month to prepare followed by assay for safety and purity and then distribution into multi-dose vials or syringes. The plant is capable of producing two million influenza vaccine doses at two-week intervals as required for North America.

Dawn O’Connell, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, oversaw the project initiated by the White House. The order for the vaccine was to “prepare for a worse-case scenario” according to Dr. Raj Panjaei, a Special Assistant to the President.

It is a matter of record that the E.U. has purchased CSL-Seqirus H5N1 vaccine and Finland has deployed the product for workers on dairy and fur-animal farms.

The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a $176 million contract to Moderna to manufacture a range of influenza vaccines including the H5N1 strain.  As demonstrated during the COVID pandemic, mRNA vaccines are both safe and effective and can be modified quickly to provide protection against viruses that undergo mutation.