NY POST – As people go ape trying to find COVID-19 vaccines, a group of primates at the San Diego Zoo became the first non-humans to be administered the jab.
That includes an orangutan named Karen.
In January, eight gorillas at the zoo’s Safari Park tested positive for the illness in what was believed to be the first case of the bug infecting great apes.
Nadine Lamberski, a global conservation and wildlife health officer told Business Insider that “alarm bells” first went off when Winston, a 49-year-old silverback gorilla, began coughing days after a wildlife specialist tested positive.
Lamberski told the outlet:
“As soon as we knew that an employee was positive, we were on high alert, so just that one or two coughs really sent the alarm bells off.
“We immediately started to get the permissions necessary to submit samples for diagnostic testing.”
After the infected apes made a full recovery, Lamberski said the team then worked hard on obtaining vaccines for the animals.
Karen the orangutan
Four orangutans — including one named Karen, who was also the first ape in the world to have open-heart surgery in 1994 — and five bonobos received the vaccine.
Veterinary pharmaceutical company Zoetis developed the experimental jab, which is not built nor suitable for human use …
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