COVID-19: Canadian zoos prepare to vaccinate animals with experimental vaccine
Global News
A COVID-19 vaccine for animals has been approved for experimental use by Canadian regulators, and six zoos are eagerly awaiting their shipments.
Six Canadian zoos are eagerly awaiting a package this holiday season — a shipment of COVID-19 vaccine for their animals.
U.S. pharmaceutical company Zoetis is donating 900 doses of a vaccine that it developed specifically for animals.
According to Dolf DeJong, chief executive of the Toronto Zoo, the vaccines have been produced and are ready to be shipped. The pharmaceutical company is just waiting on some final authorizations.
In the meantime, DeJong says the zoo’s veterinarians are excited to add a new tool in protecting their animals.
“We’re trying to be patient,” DeJong says. “Our team’s been really busy making sure the animals are ready for that injection as soon as it arrives.”
The product from New Jersey-based Zoetis isn’t yet commercially available, but it has been approved for experimental use by the Canadian Centre for Veterinary Biologics of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The company tells Global News that its vaccine is meant to be administered in two doses, three weeks apart. The 900 doses will be enough to protect 450 animals.
The vaccine is already being used south of the border where it has been authorized for experimental use by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.