Evelyn Rae (@Evelyn_Rae)

mRNA vaccines in livestock Australia update. I promised that I would keep you updated if I heard any news and unfortunately there is news. NSW Australia have officially undergone their first mRNA vaccine trials on sheep in a research/agricultural institute just out of Sydney. At this stage the vaccine has not been used in another capacity apart from the trial. We have been told the vaccines will only be administered to livestock IF an outbreak occurs. For perspective, we haven’t had an outbreak of lumpy skin disease (FMD) in over 100 years. From the ground, it is concerning that they trialled pestivirus despite the mRNA vaccine allegedly being developed for the purpose of FMD. It feels like there could be a push for other more common vaccines to transition to mRNA technology. Obviously this is still a way off… The trajectory seems clear. For now our food hasn’t been affected. Our stock hasn’t been affected. Our trade and export hasn’t been affected. There are no mandates. But the state government has said they want trials over by august 2023, so we are well and truly off and running. Will keep you posted as I go!