Having vaccinated humans against the coronavirus, Russia has started vaccinating animals on Thursday. Vet clinics across several regions in the country have now begun giving Carnivak-Cov vaccines that have been specially curated for the animals.
Russia had announced that it had started mass production of Carnivac-Cov earlier this month. The first batch of 17,000 doses has been produced at Rosselkhoznadzor’s subordinate institution, the Federal Centre for Animal Health. The vaccine was successfully tested on dogs, cats, mink, foxes, and other animals. As per test reports, a Carnivak-Cov jab provides immunity for an estimated six months.
Clinics are witnessing an increase in vaccination requests from breeders, pet owners who travel frequently, and citizens whose animals roam freely. Foreign companies in Argentina, South Korea, Japan, and even the EU have also shown interest. The first batch of doses will be distributed within the country. The production capacity is 3 million doses per month now and will hopefully increase to 5 million shortly.
There have been reports of the spread of the coronavirus to dogs, cats, apes, and mink. Primarily it has been a serious problem for minks, semi-aquatic mammals farmed for their fur. Multiple countries have reported infections in farmed mink, which, in some cases, have fallen severely ill or died out of it.
Apart from Russia, the US veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis is also developing a vaccine for animals.