By the end of October, a large portion of Cincinnati Zoo animals will be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. These include the 80 animals that most commonly share space with people:
- Big cats
- Great apes (gorillas, bonobos, orangutans)
- Red pandas
- Goats
- Giraffes
- River otters
- Skunks
- Bearcats
- Domestic dogs and cats
Cincinnati Zoo veterinary technicians had to work overtime to complete their regular work and administer the vaccines in just six weeks.
For weeks, the vet techs trained the animals to be able to take the vaccine once it arrived, as WVXU reported in July.
"We usually have a year for the animals that receive flu shots and other routine annual vaccinations to forget about the sting, but the second COVID shots had to be given within three weeks of the first,” says Director of Animal Health Dr. Mark Campbell.
“We were concerned that the fresh memory of the first injection would make animals less willing to offer a shoulder or thigh for the second round, but they did," he says. "That success is 100% due to the strong relationships these animals have with care staff and our animal health team.”
So far, they haven’t noticed any negative reactions.
After the zoo staff finishes with second doses, they’ll pass along their observations and data through blood draws to the vaccine manufacturer Zoetis.
