It is not monkey work: these monkeys are being vaccinated.
The San Diego Zoo announced on Thursday that it was in the process of inoculating many of its great apes after several of its gorillas fell ill with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in January.
So far, four orangutans and five bonobos are in the process of vaccination, the San Diego Union Tribune reported. The zoo said only that “some of the members of the great apes” were being vaccinated.
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Zoetis, a producer of medicines and vaccines for animals, supplied the injections, according to the zoo, and were not for human use.
“Zoetis has provided our veterinarians with a limited supply of purified recombinant protein vaccine, intended for use in protecting animals against SARS-CoV-2,” said the San Diego Zoo in a statement. “The doses of the vaccine came from a supply strictly intended for non-human use.”
These are the first known vaccinations of great apes, the zoo said.
The zoo said the animals were receiving two vaccines three weeks apart – as well as the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines developed for humans – and started receiving them in January. Authorities said they saw no adverse reactions to the injections.
Meanwhile, the infected gorilla troop at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park is recovering.
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“The gorilla troop at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park is doing well and appears to be on the road to full recovery,” officials said in a statement.
Gorillas will not be vaccinated “because they have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and we assume that their own immune systems have developed antibodies to the virus,” said the park.
In February, Lisa Peterson, executive director of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, said the zoo was “very grateful for the great concern and support we received while the troop was safely recovering.”
Vaccines for primates known as humans remain scarce across the country, including California.
California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Wednesday that the state administered 9.3 million vaccines. He was probably not counting the closest living relatives to humans.
Gorillas are just a few of the many wild animals that contracted the virus during the pandemic. At the Bronx Zoo, at least eight cats – five tigers and three lions – contracted the virus last year.
Stephanie Fuerte, from ABC News, contributed to this report.
San Diego Zoo vaccines great apes against COVID-19 originally published at abcnews.go.com