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

Russia has registered the world's first vaccine against Covid-19 for animals, the country's agriculture safety watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Wednesday.

Russia already has three coronavirus vaccines for humans, the most well known of which is Sputnik V. Moscow has also given emergency approval to two others, EpiVacCorona and CoviVac.

The vaccine for animals, developed by a unit of Rosselkhoznadzor, was named Carnivac-Cov, the watchdog said.

"The clinical trials of Carnivac-Cov, which started last October, involved dogs, cats, Arctic foxes, minks, foxes and other animals," said Rosselkhoznadzor's Deputy Head Konstantin Savenkov.

"The results of the trials allow us to conclude that the vaccine is harmless and highly immunogenic as all the vaccinated animals developed antibodies to the coronavirus in 100% of cases."

Immunity lasts for six months after vaccination, but the shot's developers are continuing to analyse this, the watchdog said.

Mass production of the vaccine could start as early as April, Rosselkhoznadzor added.