Two veterinarians in Chile are under investigation for apparently administering a vaccine meant for dogs to people in the city of Calama.
The vaccines in question were made to protect dogs against their own strain of coronavirus. The coronavirus that affects dogs mainly causes gastrointestinal issues such as poor appetite and diarrhea. In contrast, COVID-19 typically causes respiratory problems like coughing and trouble breathing in people.
While they are within the same family of viruses, the dog coronavirus is completely different than the virus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the strain of coronavirus that affects dogs is not at all transmissible to people.
Related article: COVID-19 and Your Pets – Everything You Need To Know
Suspicions began when authorities questioned employees at a local veterinary hospital as to why they were not wearing masks. To their surprise, the employees claimed that they had been vaccinated against COVID-19 by a local veterinarian. The problem was, the vaccine against COVID-19 was not yet available in the country at the time, and would only become publicly available months later.
Upon questioning, two veterinarians in Calama, with a population of approximately 180 000, admitted to injecting at least 75 people with the vaccine meant for dogs. This vaccine is not known to provide any protection against COVID-19 and may even cause harm if administered to a person.
It is unclear at this time whether the two veterinarians in question honestly believed they were providing protection to local residents or if there were other motives involved.
At the time of writing, Chile has reported approximately 1.16 million cases of COVID-19, with over 25 000 deaths confirmed.
So far, there has been no word as to whether any of the individuals improperly vaccinated have suffered any serious side effects to the vaccine intended for dogs.
The two veterinarians have reportedly been ordered to pay a fine for their actions.
