The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has just added an extension to the time period needed for Hendra boosters. The period due between boosters has doubled to allow horse owners a year between booster shots. Approval of the extension will make the vaccine more affordable for users.
Dr Richard L’Estrange, veterinary operations manager from Zoetis told the ABC that the switch from six-monthly Hendra boosters was an significant step forward.
“This will definitely broaden the uptake opportunities for the vaccine across the equine industry,” he said.
The vaccine has come under a lot of fire lately including an inquiry by the Queensland Government. The switch to yearly Hendra boosters though is set to combat complaints on the current expense of the vaccine and—according to L’Estrange—concerns that it may be unsafe.
“The adverse event rate has remained very constant for a long time at approximately one report for every 350 doses administered,” he said.
“We have a very robust regulatory process here in Australia… we’ve now been through that process and we’ve been given the tick of approval.
“Now we’ve completed all three important [stages], we have full registration of the product, we have approval for pregnant mares and now we have approval for annual boosters.”
Equine Veterinarians Australia’s president, Dr Ian Fulton believes the approval will be positive for both vets and horse owners.
“We’ve known for some time that the duration of immunity scientifically would last 12 months and we knew that the documentation has been supplied to the regulatory authorities and we were just waiting for them to assess it,” he told the ABC.
“We do agree that this is a very safe vaccine and the reactions that have occurred in horses, which have been very well documented, are not major; the majority are small skin reactions.
“There is currently an inquiry in Queensland regarding the safety of the Hendra vaccine so we also trust that in the end of that inquiry it will be demonstrated how safe and effective the vaccine is.”
Australian Veterinary Association spokesperson Dr Nathan Anthony also said APVMA’s support of the vaccine indicated its safety.
“They have to consider safety as well as the effectiveness of any medication that they register and this announcement from the APVMA is further endorsement,” he said.
“I’m very confident in the Hendra vaccine, a lot of excellent research has been performed by some of the best scientists here in Australia by CSIRO.
“In our practice we have administered many, many doses of the vaccine and we certainly haven’t seen any serious side effects… we believe it is a safe and effective vaccine.”
