Finland: Experimental use of mink vaccine

Finnish authorities have given the green light to an experimental coronavirus vaccine for use on mink. Lisa Kartenen of the Finnish Food Authority said yesterday that the special permit “is valid until the end of December”. According to the Finnish Fur Breeders Association, which developed the vaccine with researchers from the University of Helsinki, there are half a million doses, “enough to vaccinate each mink twice.”

As there are no clinical studies yet, the vaccine has not yet been allowed to be sold and can only be used on nearly a thousand mink farms in the country if strict regulations are observed. The permit is valid only in Finland.

The mink is the only animal that has so far been proven with certainty that it can catch the coronavirus and infect humans. So far, however, no cases of mink have been recorded in Finland.

In Denmark, on the other hand, the government, the world’s largest mink fur exporter, ordered an emergency slaughter of all 15 million animals in the country last November. This was to prevent the spread of the type of virus that could be transmitted to humans. At the end of December 2020, Denmark finally banned animal husbandry until January 2022. This ban will now be extended.