Will your pet cat or dog here in the Utica, Rome, and Syracuse areas need a COVID vaccine?

According to researchers at the University of East Anglia, University of Minnesota and the Earlham Institute, cats and dogs may also need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to help stunt the spread of the infectious disease

“It is not unthinkable that vaccination of some domesticated animal species might … be necessary to curb the spread of the infection,” the experts wrote in the peer-reviewed medical journal, the UK’s Independent reported.

According to the New York Post, there are currently no known cases in which a human contracted COVID-19 from a furry friend. Professor Cock van Oosterhou of UEA in Norwich says that it makes sense to give the vaccine to pets as a precaution:

“It makes sense to develop vaccines for pets, for domestic animals, just as a precaution to reduce this risk,” he said. “What we need to be as a human society, we really need to be prepared for any eventuality when it comes to COVID.”

In 2020, Denmark was forced to cull millions of mink after hundreds of coronavirus cases in the country were linked to the farmed critters. If this were to happen with cats and dogs, it would pose “a significant long-term risk to public health.” You can read more from the New York Post here.

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Picente Angry With State Over Vaccination Confusion

Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente remains angry over the lack of vaccinations, at a time when Governor Cuomo has opened a new state distribution site at SUNY POLY.

Picente criticized the lack of communication and the frustration to WIBX that the new SUNY POLY site was added in Marcy, sending new vaccines there and not to the county-run sites at Mohawk Valley Community College and Griffiss Park in Rome. Both of those sites were forced to shut down on Saturday because they had exhausted their entire supply of vaccinations.

You can read more from WIBX here.

KEEP READING: See how animals around the world are responding to COVID-19

 

 

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