Following similar deals in countries like the U.S. and the U.K., Canada is bolstering its stockpile of bird flu vaccines and rolling out new guidance to ensure the shot reaches those who need it most.

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said this week that it’s leveraged an existing deal with GSK to lock down an initial supply of 500,000 doses of the British drugmaker’s avian influenza vaccine for humans.

GSK’s Arepanrix H5N1 A/American wigeon clade 2.3.4.4b vaccine was designed using recognized technology for seasonal and pandemic flu shots, the PHAC said in a release. Prior to the supply pact, Canada’s drug regulator on Tuesday wrapped up its review of GSK’s regulatory submission and authorized the change in vaccine strain.

Even as bird flu spreads globally, the current risk to average members of the public remains low, the PHAC explained. Nevertheless, people who are more often exposed to infected animals, such as poultry workers, ought to take precautions given the potential for serious illness, the public health agency said.

For the initial 500,000 doses, the PHAC says it will provide vaccines to Canadian provinces and territories based an equitable and risk-based approach. Overall, 60% of available doses will be shipped out, with Canada holding back another 40% in a federal stockpile.

It will ultimately be up to the provinces and territories to decide whether to administer the vaccines, the PHAC noted.

The strategy aligns with new preliminary guidance on use of the vaccine in a non-pandemic setting from Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which was also issued this week.

Given the current spread of the virus in Canada and the U.S., the NACI is urging against broad vaccine deployment. Instead, the immunization committee highlighted individual cases where provinces and territories might choose to roll out the vaccine selectively, such as to protect lab workers handling live avian influenza virus or people who have ongoing contact with infected animals.

The NACI’s guidelines also vary based on the severity of the situation, weighing factors like the number of reported human infections and whether the virus has jumped from poultry to other animals like cattle.

Canada reported its first domestic human case of bird flu Nov. 9, the PHAC said. To date, there is no evidence that the virus has spread from person to person in any of the cases identified globally.

The situation has been playing out similarly in the U.S., where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says on its website that the current public health risk from the virus is low.

So far, 69 cases of bird flu and one death have been reported in the U.S. since early 2024, according to the CDC’s online tracking page.

Though the potential threat of avian influenza remains nascent, multiple governments have refreshed their vaccine stockpiles in recent months, with CSL Seqirus providing much of the supply.

Back in September, the U.S.’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) laid out $121.4 million to boost national inventories of CSL Seqirus’ MF59 adjuvant, which is used in some bird flu vaccines to beef up the body’s immune response. The deal brought the country’s MF59 reserves up to an equivalent of 40 million vaccine doses, CSL said at the time.

Roughly one week later, the BARDA doled out a collective $72 million in funding to CSL Seqirus, GSK and Sanofi, which agreed in turn to fill and finish additional doses of their bird flu vaccines for potential rapid deployment.

The three companies also agreed to make additional bulk antigens matching circulating bird flu strains. Sanofi, as part of an ongoing partnership with the BARDA, pledged to preserve a continuous supply of domestic eggs to make more vaccine doses.