The Licensed Avian Influenza Vaccines: What Did We Learn from the FOI Requests?

The square root of not a lot

Summertime is here. It seems like yesterday that we started trying to find out which avian influenza vaccines were bought, why and for how much.

It was just before Christmas when we started asking questions:

FOI Questions for the UKHSA on WhatDoTheyKnow

We should celebrate, as this is the 49th post on the topic. In numerology, it represents creation, progress, and spiritual awakening. Perhaps we’re onto something.

The 48 posts document the questions, answers, evasions, dodges, appeals, partial successes and so on from both the United Kingdom Scare Agency (UKHSA) and the enablers, MHRA, which played pass the parcel with our questions.

So what did we get? 

26 Apr 2025: What did you buy? Answer: 1 of 4 licensed avian influenza vaccines

The Licensed Avian Influenza Vaccines - from the Horse’s Mouth

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30 Apr 2025: How does it perform? Answer. Dunno, ask MHRA. No real answer there 

A fourth answer to our questions to the UKHSA about the bird flu vaccine

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13 Jan 2025: What are the indications for use? Answer: Dunno

A fifth answer to our questions to the UKHSA about the bird flu vaccine

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11 Jan 2025: What are the properties? Answer: Dunno, MHRA licensed it because it was the same as AFLUNOV but it’s not the same and neither have been tested in the field. 

More MHRA Responses on the H5 Avian Influenza Vaccine

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24 Jan 2025: What’s the cost? Answer: it’s confidential

The Avian Influenza Trilogy

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13 January 2025: What is a case of avian influenza? Answer: Dunno

Stonewalling by the UKHSA on the H5N1 influenza case

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Slowly, bit by bit, we uncovered the convoluted story of how the avian influenza vaccine H5N8 was licensed and purchased. However, it is not needed in Europe and certainly not in the UK, which has reported only one case of H5N1 this year. Although the UKHSA refused to elaborate, keeping the information for staff publications rather than for the taxpayer.

To sum up, no one has any real data on the actual performance of the vaccines. Licensing was by analogy with another vaccine; there are no data on pregnant women, the cost is secret, and the informed consent used in the original trials is misleading and panic-inducing. We will not tell you when the stocks need to be renewed either. But apart from all this, everything is OK.

We wrote: “Instead of taking a critical approach to save tax payers’ money, the bodies continue wrapping the issue up with inflated estimates of burden, warnings of imminent disasters and poor science, as well as the ultimate dead cat: a mass of observational data which provides no answers but tells you whatever you want”.

The Licensed Avian Influenza Vaccines: The Informed Consent Form Models - Part 8

At the end of all this, we are left with a simple question: why do we fund the UKHSA?

Two pig-headed old geezers wrote this post.