Moderna has been awarded approximately $590 million from the federal government to help speed up the development of an mRNA-based bird flu vaccine, health officials said.

The US Department of Health and Human Services will award $590 million to Moderna to continue developing a vaccine to protect against bird flu, the pharmaceutical company announced Friday.

Medical experts advise that people should get a vaccine for the bird flu when it becomes commercially available. One doctor said the most at-risk patients should be first.