Vaccines

Pandemic Vaccine:

NZ does not have the capacity to manufacture human vaccines, but does have an agreement in place with the Australian pharmaceutical company CSL Ltd to get priority access to vaccines in the event of a future influenza pandemic. NZ is third in line after Australia and one other country.

However because a vaccine that will protect against the pandemic strain won't be able to be produced until that strain is actually identified, there will be a delay between international identification of a pandemic and the arrival of a vaccine. This is expected to be at least 15-27 weeks after the pandemic virus is isolated.

The vaccine strategy will be to immunise all the population once supplies are available and this would be expected to be a 2 dose course. A two dose schedule is necessary for a novel virus. Timing between doses for the first seasonal influenza vaccine, in children younger than nine who have not been previously primed, is normally 4 weeks; data will be needed to see if this timing can be reduced to give earlier protection.

Prototype Vaccine:

A prototype or 'mock-up' pandemic vaccine is a vaccine that anticipates and mimics the characteristics of a pandemic virus and is designed to provide protection against it. The vaccine contains viral antigens to which humans are immunologically naïve.

Several vaccine manufacturers are currently in the process of developing and testing a vaccine to the current H5N1 avian influenza virus in circulation. It is unknown how similar to a final pandemic virus this virus will be (if at all). If it is similar to the final pandemic virus then a 'prototype' vaccine against H5N1 may offer some protection against the pandemic.

New Zealand authorities are considering the costs and benefits of purchasing a small quantity of 'prototype vaccine'.

For further information around the process of development of a pandemic vaccine refer to presentation PowerPoint "CSL and Pandemic Preparedness" by Dave Bowler General Manager/ executive Director CSL(NZ) Ltd Dec 2005.

For further information around H5N1 vaccine development process view the National Institutes of Health website at http://www.vrc.nih.gov/Newsroom/Releases/flucontracts.htm