Russia has already developed three coronavirus vaccines intended for humans. The best known of these is Sputnik V, which according to a study published in The Lancet reaches an efficiency of 91.6%, but the Russian government has also granted emergency approval to two others: EpiVacCorona and CoviVac. Sputnik light, the one-dose version of the well-known vaccine, has also started the process to be registered.
Now, Russia has registered the first vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 that could be administered to animals to protect them against the virus and help stop its spread, after beginning to test it after the infection was detected months ago in both farmed mink of the Netherlands and Denmark, as in wild specimens in freedom.
“The vaccine is harmless and highly immunogenic, since all the vaccinated animals developed antibodies against the coronavirus”
The new prophylaxis is called Carnivac-Cov, it has been developed by the Federal Center for Animal Health, and has been tested in clinical trials with dogs, cats, foxes, minks and other species. Konstantin Savenkov, deputy director of the Russian veterinary and phytosanitary control body (Rosseljoznadzor), has declared that “it is the first and so far only compound in the world to prevent the COVID-19 disease in animals”.
The expert has assured that the drug has been shown to be safe and effective; Specifically, he has said: “The results of the trials allow us to conclude that the vaccine is harmless and highly immunogenic, since all the vaccinated animals developed antibodies against the coronavirus in 100% of the cases.” These antibodies were maintained for at least six months, although the Rosselkhoznadzor researchers continue to study the data.
Protect animals to stop the spread of the virus
In addition, in statements collected by the Russian news agency Sputnik, Savenkov has indicated that they expect the production of the vaccine on an industrial scale to begin this April in one of the plants of the Federal Center for the Protection of Animal Health, and that this vaccine is very important because it has already been proven that certain species are very vulnerable to coronavirus infection, as is the case with farmed mink, among which outbreaks have occurred in several European countries, including Spain.
They expect the production of the anti-COVID vaccine for animals on an industrial scale to begin this same month of April
Recently, in addition, the alarm has been raised when it has been detected that pets such as dogs and cats were susceptible to being infected by their owners if they were infected with the British variant of SARS-CoV-2, and that COVID-19 could cause serious health problems such as myocarditis (a heart disease).
According to Russian scientists, the use of this vaccine could help prevent the development of mutations of the virus, which tend to occur more frequently during the transmission of the coronavirus between species.
Both the fur industry and various countries have already shown interest in purchasing this universal anti-COVID vaccine for animals, which has preceded a similar one that they were developing at the University of Plymouth.
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