WHO expert: in case of bird flu pandemic, vaccines could be available within 4 months | Video

Geneva (Switzerland), May 3 (EFE) - The rapid spread of bird flu in recent years has raised fears that the virus could be the next global pandemic, although the head of influenza prevention at the World Health Organisation (WHO) stresses in an interview with EFE that the world is better prepared than before the pandemic and vaccines could even be available in less than half a year.

"It would take three to four months from the start of the pandemic for the first doses to be available on the market," said Zhang Wenqing, who has headed the WHO's global influenza prevention programme for the past 12 years,

She clarified that it is not possible to prepare such vaccines now, as they have to be based on the most up-to-date version of the virus, the one that would cause a hypothetical pandemic.

CAMERA: ANTONIO BROTO

SOUNDBITES OF ZHANG WENQING, DIRECTOR OF THE WHO'S GLOBAL INFLUENZA PREVENTION PROGRAMME.

Metadata

Date: 03/05/2024 15:18 (UTC)
Credit: EFE
Source: EFE
Topic: Health » Disease
Health » Epidemic and plague
Health
Type: Rough cut
Duration: 158 seconds
Reference: 7001360509
Relevance: Normal