Russia is close to completing clinical trials of a Covid-19 vaccine for domestic animals and mink and hopes to begin the regulatory approval process in February, the country’s agricultural safety supervisory body said.
The Federal Center for Animal Health began developing the vaccine after authorities established that the virus could be transmitted from humans to some pets.
Russia became the first country to give regulatory approval to a human vaccine – Sputnik V – in August, and is in the process of implementing it across the country. More than 150,000 people have already received it.
The Russian animal vaccine is aimed at rabbits, mink, cats and other animals. Clinical trials will be completed in January and the approval process is likely to begin in late February, Reuters Yulia Melano, assistant director of the agricultural safety control body Rosselkhoznadzor, told Reuters.
The World Health Organization has expressed concern about the transmission of the virus between humans and animals.
Last month, Denmark ordered the sacrifice of the 17 million mink in hatcheries after concluding that a strain of the virus transmitted from humans to mink had mutated and spread back to humans.
Russia has said it believes there will be commercial interest in the new vaccine by its own animal skin breeders and US and European Union companies.
Two cases of Covid-19 have been reported in cats in Russia, but their mink population has not been affected, according to the supervisory body.
Ivan Nesterov, acting director of state fur company Russian Sable, told tv channel Zvezda last month that Russia is testing a vaccine and will immunize its mink once the process is complete.
