Coronavirus – Finland: Mink vaccinations begin with two doses

The breeders mink in Finland they will start vaccinating their animals against it coronavirus after the local authorities gave provisional approval for an experimental vaccine, announced today, Friday (1/10) the Finnish food authority.

Conditional use of this vaccine is allowed during a pandemic period when no other is available and “has been given until the end of December, when the manufacturer (of the vaccine) will be called upon to provide more information,” said Lisa Kaartinen, chief inspector .

Mink are bred for their fur and are particularly at risk of being infected with the coronavirus. “We have prepared about half a million doses, which are expected to be sufficient to vaccinate all animals in two doses“Said Yousi Peura, director of research at the Finnish Mink Breeders’ Association, which developed the vaccine in collaboration with researchers at the University of Helsinki.

Coronavirus: The vaccine is licensed for use only in Finland

Clinical trials have not been completed and the vaccine cannot be marketed, and it must be administered in strict accordance with the 1,000 mink farms in Finland in order to control and prevent the spread of covid-19, according to the APE-MPE.

He received the vaccine license only for Finland where so far no case of coronavirus has been detected among the mink and where the transmission rate in the population remained among the lowest in the EU throughout the pandemic. The breeders’ association estimates that its vaccine is the first to be approved in the EU.

Neighboring Russia announced in March that it had developed the first covid-19 animal vaccine, which it then began to administer. Mink are the only animals thought to be able to transmit covid-19 to humans.

Denmark, the largest exporter of mink fur, was hit hard by a coronavirus strain that infected mink farms last November, forcing the government to slaughter about 15 million animals.