Finland To Become First EU Country To Vaccinate Mink Against COVID-19

HELSINKI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st October, 2021) Finland will become the first country in the European Union to vaccinate minks at fur farms against COVID-19, the Finnish Fur Breeders' Association (FIFUR) said on Thursday.

"The Finnish fur industry will be the first operator in EU to vaccinate animals against coronavirus," Marja Tiura, the association's CEO, said in a statement.

The Finnish food Authority, part of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, has approved the use of a COVID-19 vaccine for mink, developed jointly by FIFUR and a research team from the University of Helsinki.

The vaccine, called FurcoVac, has been under development since last fall with the aim of preventing the spread of the virus on Finnish fur farms.

The project was fully funded by FIFUR, which owns the vaccine rights.

Finland has not recorded a single case of COVID-19 in fur animals, but in the Netherlands and Denmark, millions of minks had to be euthanized to prevent the spread of the virus.