The Denver Zoo will start vaccinating some of its animals for COVID-19 as early as next week. Zoologists say they have yet to formulate a specific plan for which animals will be vaccinated first, but they are working with the veterinary vaccine company Zoetis to receive doses for its animals.
“It’s very important to us to provide protection for our animals,” said Dr. Scott Larsen, the vice president of animal health at the Denver Zoo. “Our primates and carnivores will be at the top of the list.”
The veterinary vaccine is being developed separate from the ones for human use. The Zoetis vaccine is designed primarily for mammals. Though transmission is rare between humans and other species, there have been several documented cases of COVID-19 in large cats, monkeys, and certain rodent populations. In Denmark, mink farmers were forced to euthanize millions of mink because of a coronavirus outbreak among the population there.
“We know some of those animals like gorillas and tigers, mink otters can all be infected. But for a lot of these others, we don’t know what the susceptibility is,” said Larsen. “For animals, we want to be able to protect them similar to we’re trying to protect people.”
At this point, veterinary scientists do not believe that common house pets like cats or dogs are in significant danger of catching COVID-19. As millions of families quarantined with their pets over the past year, cross-species transmission was low.
For more on this report about COVID-19 vaccinations at Denver Zoo, visit thedenverchannel.com.
