Explained | Ancovax - India’s first COVID-19 vaccine for animals

The Centre has launched a COVID-19 vaccine for animals such as dogs, lions, leopards, mice and rabbits.

The story so far: As COVID-19 cases rise across India, the Centre launched the nation’s first animal vaccine — Ancovax — against SARS-CoV-2 virus on June 9.

Ancovax — a COVID-19 vaccine for animals like dogs, lions, leopards, mice and rabbits — contains an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 (Delta) antigen capable of neutralizing both Delta and Omicron variants. Developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), this vaccine is one of the six vaccines indigenously produced by the Indian institute.

Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar presided over the launch event at ICAR’s Centre at Hisar, Haryana. Apart from Ancovax, Tomar also launched the CAN-CoV-2 ELISA Kit (detects COVID in canines), the Surra ELISA Kit (detects Trypanosoma evansi infection in animals) and the Equine DNA Parentage Testing Kit (determining parentage in horses and other equines).

The Ancovax vaccine is an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 Delta (COVID-19) vaccine which can be safely used on dogs, lions, leopards, mice and rabbits against the COVID-19 virus, according to a statement released by ICAR. The vaccine contains an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 (Delta) antigen with Alhydrogel as an adjuvant. Marking a first for India, Ancovax is the only vaccine capable of neutralizing the COVID-19 virus in animals.

Prior to Ancovax, Russia had registered the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine for animals called Carnivac-Cov in March 2021, after tests showed that it generated antibodies against the COVID-19 virus in dogs, cats, foxes and mink. The clinical trials which began in October 2020 were conducted on dogs, cats, Arctic foxes, mink and other animals, per a Reuters report. The tests, initially conducted on ferrets, demonstrated that the animals showed a continued immune response for at least six months since the trials commenced.

The vaccine contains an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 virus strain to elicit humoral and T cell-mediated immune responses when injected into animals. The vaccine has been developed by Rosselkhoznadzor, or the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, to prevent animal-to-human viral transmission – a potential threat confirmed by the World Health Organisation.

Russia produced its first batch of 17,000 doses of Carnivac-Cov in April 2021. The vaccine, which is reportedly capable of protecting vulnerable species and thwarting COVID-19 mutations, was administered at several veterinary clinics across Russia to cats and other domestic animals. Till then, Russia had registered two animal cases of COVID-19 – both in cats.