At a zoo in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, large cats, bears and ferrets are being immunized against the new coronavirus with an experimental vaccine, the Associated Press reported.
The Ginger and Molly tigers are the first animals from the Auckland Zoo to be vaccinated this week, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The vaccines were donated by a veterinary pharmaceutical company in New Jersey that makes them.
Alex Herman, the zoo’s vice president of veterinary services, said none of the animals had contracted Covid-19, but management wanted to act promptly. Tigers, black bears and grizzly bears, cougars and ferrets were among the first animals to be immunized with the first dose of the Kovid-19 vaccine. They will be followed by primates and pigs.
“It is a blessing and a relief for us to be able to better protect our animals with a vaccine,” she said in a statement.
The veterinary company donates more than 11,000 doses to animals from nearly 70 zoos, reserves, academic institutions and government organizations in 27 US states.
The San Diego Zoo began vaccinating the animals in January after an outbreak of gorillas broke out in the local safari park.
