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Vaccination

Pets May Need Covid-19 Vaccination to Stop Spread

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Scientists from the University of East Anglia (UEA), the Earlham Institute, and the University of Minnesota have expressed concern that domesticated animals, including cats and dogs, may need to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to "halt further virus evolution." As millions of people in the UK have already received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, the experts believe that animal reservoirs could pose a significant long-term risk to public health.

Key Takeaways:

  • The University of East Anglia scientists have warned that mutations of the virus in animals, followed by the infection of humans, "poses a significant long-term risk to public health."
  • Clinical trials for a vaccine for domestic animals are already underway in Russia, with the government claiming doses could be made available in the coming months.
  • While there are no known cases of Covid-19 transmission from animals to humans, experts believe that developing a pet vaccine is a precautionary measure to reduce this risk.
  • The risk of spill back from animal strains into the human population is not yet "an obvious risk," according to Kevin Tyler, editor-in-chief of Virulence.
  • The entire mink population in Denmark was culled in November 2020 after hundreds of farms suffered outbreaks of coronavirus, highlighting the potential risk of animal-to-human transmission.
  • The scientists who wrote the editorial for the journal Virulence include Professor van Oosterhout and Professor Tyler from UEA, Neil Hall from the Earlham Institute, and Hinh Ly from the University of Minnesota.

Statistics:

  • Millions of people in the UK have already received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs.
  • The number of domesticated animals in the UK that have contracted Covid-19 is not clear, but experts believe that the rates may be similar to those of people.
  • The mink population in Denmark was culled in November 2020, with hundreds of farms suffering outbreaks of coronavirus.

Sources:

  • https://www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/does-covid-vaccine-work-against-new-variants-what-oxford-astrazeneca-pfizer-and-moderna-have-said-about-new-strains-3113425
  • https://www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/scientists-say-pet-dogs-and-cats-may-need-be-vaccinated-against-covid-3111932
  • https://www.scotsman.com/health/vaccine-roll-out-people-aged-70-79-will-start-monday-scottish-government-announce-3110582
  • https://www.scotsman.com/health/coronavirus/new-covid-strain-uk-what-are-symptoms-new-coronavirus-variant-and-will-vaccine-still-work-3068541

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