Russia registers world's first Covid-19 vaccine for animals Carnivac-Cov

In a first, Russia has registered the world's first coronavirus vaccine for animals, its agricultural regulator said last week. The announcement was made after tests showed that Carnivac-Cov generated antibodies against the virus in dogs, cats, foxes, and mink. The regulator, Rosselkhoznadzor said that the mass production of the vaccine for animals is likely to begin in April.

'Vaccine would be able to protect vulnerable species and thwart viral mutations'

While the World Health Organisation has expressed concerns over the transmission of Covid-19 between humans and animals, the Russian regulator stressed that "the vaccine would be able to protect vulnerable species and thwart viral mutations [sic]," according to agencies. Russia till now has recorded only two cases of Covid-19 in animals, and both in cats.
 
Given that WHO warned of contractions from animals to humans, last year, Denmark culled nearly 17 million mink in farms after it was discovered that a strain of the virus had passed from humans to mink and that the humans had later contracted the mutated strains of the virus. Rosselkhoznadzor has now said that the fur farms in Russia planned to buy the vaccine along with businesses in Greece, Poland, and Austria. Russia’s fur farm industry accounts for around 3% of the global market, down from 30% in the Soviet era, according to the main trade body.

Covid-19 is about to hit animals next: Institute that developed Sputnik V

The head of Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Alexander Gintsburg was quoted by Russian media as saying that "Covid-19 is about to hit animals next." He had said, "The next stage of the epidemic is the infection with the coronavirus of farm and domestic animals." The clinical trials of the Russian animal vaccine started in October last year that involved cats, dogs, Arctic foxes, mink, foxes among other animal species.
 
“The results of the trials allow us to conclude that the vaccine is safe and highly immunogenic as all the vaccinated animals developed antibodies to the coronavirus,” Rosselkhoznadzor’s deputy head, Konstantin Savenkov said in a statement. The Russian regulator also said that the immune response of animals who were given the Carnivac-Cov was better in the last six months, while it said that the study will continue on the vaccine's effect.

 The Russian watchdog further stated, "The use of the vaccine, according to Russian researchers, can prevent the development of viral mutations, which most often occur during interspecies transmission of the agent.”