The world’s first coronavirus vaccine against COVID-19 for animals has been registered by Russia and manufacture of the vaccine could begin in April, a Russian official said Wednesday March 31. Russia has registered the world’s first vaccine for animals, the country’s agriculture safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Wednesday.
The vaccine was tested in dogs, cats, Arctic foxes, minks and other animals, and all animals in the trials developed antibodies, Konstantin Savenkov, deputy head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, told journalists Wednesday, the Washington Post reported. Findings to date suggest the vaccine may provide immunity for at least six months, and further research on immunity is being conducted, Savenkov said.
A number of cases of COVID-19 in domestic animals have been reported, and more than 15 million minks were ordered slaughtered in Denmark last year after a variant of the virus was detected in farmed minks, the Post reported. Savenkov said companies in the United States, Greece, Poland, Austria, Canada and Singapore have shown interest in the animal vaccine, the Post reported.
Moscow has also given emergency approval to two other Russian made vaccines – EpiVacCorona and CoviVac. The vaccine for animals, developed by a unit of Rosselkhoznadzor, was named Carnivac-Cov, the country’s agriculture safety watchdog said.
Military officials in Russia’s second city Saint Petersburg announced earlier this week that army dogs would undergo mandatory vaccination before being deployed at airports and participating in nationwide World War II commemorations in May.
AlizeLaVie 31/03/2021 Sources News Agencies
