NUR-SULTAN – The first Kazakh COVID-19 vaccine for cats, named NARUVAX-C19, was presented at the Kazagro/Kazfarm-2021 international exhibition on Oct. 21, said virologist and vaccinologist Kaisar Tabynov on his Facebook.
Photo credit: Facebook account of Kaisar Tabynov.
The exhibition, held on Oct. 20-22 in Nur-Sultan, included such sections as livestock and poultry farming, animal feed, veterinary science, fruit and vegetable growing, and small and medium businesses’ funding and lending in the agro-industrial sector.
“We made this vaccine, because SARS-CoV-2, a virus that came into the human population from wild fauna, is able to overcome the interspecies barrier and expand its host range. Some of our pets, such as cats, are unfortunately also susceptible to infection and may contribute to this insidious virus mutation,” said Tabynov, who serves as the director of the International Vaccinology Centre at the Kazakh National Agrarian Research University.
Both scientists of the International Vaccinology Centre and National Scientific Center for Especially Dangerous Infections of the Ministry of Healthcare worked on the vaccine.
According to Tabynov, the NARUVAX-C19 (pets) vaccine was tested comprehensively on cats, which were consequently protected against SARS-CoV-2. It also promoted antibody formation against the delta COVID-19 variant.
Vaccinologist stressed that the vaccine for pets is completely different from the vaccine for people in its composition. “It is a whole new vaccine, and its adjuvant, a component that strengthens the body’s immune response to the antigen, is different.”
