Betty and Quincy are chimpanzees in the Tallinn Zoo. Admitting that wild primates would difficult to treat in case of a serious infection with the novel coronavirus, they have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, Estonia media ERR and Eesti Ekspress report.
Elsewhere in the world zoos, primates have been reported as testing test positive for the novel coronavirus. A number of animals in Tallinn Zoo have also been confirmed to have had the infection.
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Aleksandr Semjonov, the chief physician at the Estonian University of Life Sciences animal clinic explained that to primates the infection could prove dangerous. «If the chimpanzees fall seriously ill, it means they will likely die. You cannot put a wild animal under an IV or send them to recover under a ventilator – they turn aggressive.»
The Tallinn Zoo chimpanzee couple were administered vaccine doese left over from general population vaccinations as part of a complete health check four weeks ago and now await their second dose. Both monkeys were administered BioNTech/Pfizer vaccines, ERR reports.
Chimpanzees vaccinated against Covid-19 in Tallinn Zoo
