Context
The Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare unveiled India’s first Covid-19 the vaccine, called Ancovax, for animals.
About Ancovax
- Ancovax vaccine developed by the Hisar-based National Research Centre on Equines, the vaccine, called Ancovax, can protect animals against the Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2.
- This is the first Covid-19 vaccine for animals developed in India.
- It can be used in dogs, lions, leopards, mice, and rabbits.
- It is an inactivated vaccine developed using an infectious part of the Delta variant. In addition, it uses Alhydrogel as an adjuvant to boost the immune response.
- This is the first Covid-19 vaccine for animals developed in India.
- There were reports from Russia last year that that country, too, had developed a vaccine against animals such as dogs, cats, minks, and foxes.
- It can protect animals against the Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2.
- The aim of the vaccine is to protect endangered animals such as lions and tigers.
- There were reports from Russia last year that that country, too, had developed a vaccine against animals such as dogs, cats, minks, and foxes.
Significance
- There have been reports of Covid-19 infection in several animals, including dogs and cats.
- The vaccine can protect animals in the zoo.
- The animals develop similar symptoms to humans – cough, cold, fever, and lung lesions.
- It can also prevent transmission from companion animals to humans.
- The aim of the vaccine is to protect endangered animals.
