Alberta mulls roll out of H5N1 avian flu vaccine while Ottawa stockpiles doses for provinces

Alberta is reviewing new guidance on H5N1 avian influenza vaccines, and who could be prioritized for getting them, as shipments are readied to fan out across the country and concerns about the virus grow.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced Wednesday it has authorized a human vaccine and purchased 500,000 doses.

The federal agency plans to share 60 per cent of those doses with the provinces, while the remainder will be stockpiled for what it calls "national preparedness."

According to PHAC, the number of human cases in North America is increasing, primarily among poultry and dairy farm workers, and the vaccines will be used to protect people who may be at increased risk of being exposed through infected animals.

"Doses will be available for distribution directly from the manufacturer to provinces and territories in the coming weeks based on their respective plans and local risk considerations," a PHAC spokesperson said in an email to CBC News.

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"Provinces and territories will be responsible for determining whether and when to offer avian influenza vaccinations and managing their vaccination campaigns, including administering the vaccine to eligible recipients."

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization also issued preliminary guidance for provinces.

Its recommendations include when vaccines could be offered and which groups could be prioritized, including lab workers (who handle live H5N1 virus) and people with ongoing contact with infected animals and their environments (including those who live and work on poultry and dairy farms with known infections).

The document provides a framework — including a number of scenarios — for provinces to consider.

It does not recommend widespread vaccination.

Alberta considers options

Alberta Health said it's aware of the new guidance. Its immunization team, along with the chief medical officer of health, will review it in detail and assess its implications for Albertans.

It did not respond to questions from CBC News about how many doses could be allocated to the province or when shipments would arrive.

"The hope is, looking at the NACI guidelines, that we really take those to heart," said Craig Jenne, a professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary.

He believes the guidelines are an appropriate strategy and reflect the level of risk in the community.

"Being able to protect those, for example, who would have to go into a poultry farm that has active virus, is a smart move. As we see that virus spread into larger circles, now vaccinating local farmers or a local community — who will be contacting people that may have contracted the virus — is a smart move, " he said.

If adopted, the guidelines would work to limit the opportunities for the virus to evolve and adapt more readily to people, according to Jenne, who's also the deputy director of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases.

He said, for the most part, there has not been sustained human-to-human transmission, and human cases have been limited.

"But, as we saw earlier this year in British Columbia, some of those human cases can be very severe," he said.

"And we do want to ensure that the people that are most likely to be exposed … have that level of protection."

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Jenne said it's encouraging to see the vaccine is approved and ready to go. And he expects with connections to manufacturers in place, deployment could be rapid if immunizations are needed on a wider scale.

According to Alberta Health, symptomatic Albertans, exposed to infected animals or contaminated environments within the last 10 days, can access testing and treatment through Health Link at 811, the department said.    

Health care providers in the province have also been told to consider testing for H5N1 if patients are symptomatic and have been exposed to animals with suspected or confirmed infections in the preceding 10 days.

The risk to most Canadians remains low, according to federal officials.

As of Feb. 14, a total of 68 human cases of H5N1 avian flu had been reported in the U.S. since the start of 2024, mostly among dairy and poultry workers, including one death, PHAC said.

In the same time period, Canada has reported one human case — a teenager in B.C. who was released from hospital in January

Most human cases can be traced back to animal exposures, according to the federal agency, but the source of some infections remains unknown.