Zoo Vaccinating Apes for COVID-19 Protection for Both Animals & Humans

This isn't monkey business.

The apes of the San Diego Zoo are getting their COVID-19 vaccines, and zoo insiders say it's to protect both the animal and human populations. On January 11 of this year, a troop of eight gorillas at the San Diego Zoo safari park tested positive for the coronavirus. They were then quarantined while receiving treatment and have been recovering since. After the gorilla outbreak, the zoo decided their ape population must be vaccination, with a total of six bonobos, four orangutans, and three gorillas having received their initial doses already according to this NPR report.

"It's pretty amazing," said San Diego Zoo Safari Park director Lisa Peterson to NPR. "Our great apes are trained to participate in their own care. We're seeing their everyday personalities and vivaciousness coming back, so we're very excited that we were able to get them through it," she detailed.

If you're worried about of bunch of monkeys using coveting, hard-to-access vaccines -- that's understandable, but the reality is the monkeys aren't being jabbed with Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson shots like those being doled out in convention centers and CVS pharmacies across the nation.

The COVID-19 vaccine that the San Diego Zoo used on its apes was produced by the veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it approved the vaccine for experimental use by the zoo.

It simply is not the same vaccine as any of the ones being given to humans, and doesn't compete with the supply available to people. The senior vice president of global biologics at Zoetics explained that although the virus is the same, the adjuvant (an ingredient in the vaccine that helps boost immune response), has to be different for ape populations.

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Apparently Zoetis started developing a COVID-19 vaccine specifically for dogs and cats last year when they saw that dogs in Hong Kong were getting infected and fear of the virus being passed back and forth between pets and humans was at an all time high. The USDA hasn't actually approved the vaccine for dogs or cats yet, though they're considering offering it to much-affected minks. Mink populaltions have seen massive outbreaks during the pandemic. As a result, zoos, and the San Diego Zoo in particular, have been hard at work trying to access animal-friendly vaccines for COVID-19.

It makes sense, given the CDC statistics showing 75% of emerging infectious diseases coming from animals, and the widespread belief that COVID-19 originated in Chinese bat populations before making the leap to humans. Zoos, especially popular iconic institutions like the San Diego Zoo, are among the few controlled environments where humans and wildlife interact on a close and routine basis.

Photo by Anthony Yin on Unsplash

Zoo experts believe vaccinating the animals will protect them from illness brought in by humans, but then eventually created protection for humans, too. If the animals don't have an opportunity to continue spreading and potentially mutating strains of COVID-19, it becomes much harder for them to give it back to adoring fans, zookeepers, and other staff. After all, zoos have been mostly open during the array of COVID-19 shut downs, offering outdoor fun and educationally-sound temporary escapes to those who have been too cautious to head to restaurants, museums, and other entertainment venues.

"We have to care for the plants and the animals and the habitats and environments in which they live if we want to protect ourselves," said Peterson of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, stressing the importance of the public rallying behind animal vaccinations.

What do you think about the primate population of the San Diego Zoo starting to receive COVID-19 vaccines before much of the local human population? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.