Position Statements

Vaccination of Animals

August 29, 2024

Position statements developed by the CVMA reflect current knowledge regarding animal health, welfare, and the relationship to One Health. While they are not legislative, they do represent CVMA’s ongoing commitment to the advancement of animal health and welfare.

Position

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) strongly supports the use of vaccines by veterinarians to control and prevent infectious disease in animals, including domestic animals, poultry, fish and wildlife. Vaccine protocols including antigen selection and revaccination intervals should be recommended at the individual animal or group level as part of a comprehensive veterinarian-supervised preventative health care plan.

Summary

  • Vaccines play an important role in supporting the health and welfare of both animals and humans.
  • Vaccines registered for use in Canada have been tested for safety and efficacy when used in accordance with label instructions and veterinary advice.
  • The vaccination needs of every patient or group of patients should be assessed regularly by a veterinarian as part of a comprehensive preventive health care strategy.
  • Adverse effects, if any, should be reported to the manufacturer or to the Canadian Centre for Veterinary Biologics (CCVB).

Background

  1. Vaccines have an important role in animal and human health (1,2,3) by:
    • contributing to animal health and welfare by helping to control infectious disease, and thereby reducing disease suffering and mortality.
    • protecting human health in the case of vaccinating animals including wildlife for zoonotic diseases (e.g., rabies, leptospirosis).
    • helping to reduce the need for antimicrobials and associated risks from the development of antimicrobial resistance (4).
    • supporting healthy wildlife populations / facilitating biodiversity (3).
  2. Veterinarians have the knowledge, ability, and obligation to ensure the proper handling and storage of vaccines. Veterinarians must understand the legal requirement for rabies vaccination in the jurisdiction in which they practice and communicate those requirements to animal owners.
  3. In Canada, veterinary biologics, including vaccines, are regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Vaccines licensed for use in Canada have been tested for purity, potency, safety and efficacy when used in the target species according to the manufacturer's label recommendations (5).
  4. In addition, autogenous biologics may be developed and used under certain regulatory criteria. Such vaccines may play a role in certain cases when a licensed vaccine is not effective or is not available. Autogenous vaccines are produced in approved licensed facilities and are used under the supervision of a veterinarian (6).
  5. In all cases, vaccine manufacturers’ instructions and/or expert published guidelines should be carefully followed when available (7). The required labeled dosage of a particular vaccine is the volume of that vaccine that has been determined to be necessary to produce an adequate and protective immune response in the patient and should not be adjusted based on the size or weight of the patient.
  6. The vaccination needs of every patient or group of patients should be assessed regularly with a veterinarian as part of a comprehensive preventive health care strategy. The decision to administer a particular vaccine should be based on a risk assessment that considers the likelihood of exposure to a disease agent, transmissibility of disease in question, regional variation in disease prevalence of agents, severity of the disease, human health risks and any legal requirements for vaccination (e.g. rabies). Age, breed, health status and susceptibility of the patient(s) including immune status, environmental factors, lifestyle of owners and animals and travel should also be considered (7-9).
  7. Measurement of serum antibody titres is not a replacement for vaccination. Titres may not always be predictive of an individual patient’s immune status, true protective titres have not been established, titres only assess one component of the immune response, and results may vary among tests and between laboratories. Veterinarians should remain cautious in interpreting serological data, with respect to minimum protective titres (3,10).
  8. The CVMA acknowledges that the use of vaccines is associated with certain risks, including adverse reactions. Most adverse reactions are transient, mild, and occur infrequently (11). However, more serious adverse events can occur such as sarcomas (12), or an anaphylactic reaction to the vaccine itself (13). Veterinarians should make clients aware of both the potential risks, as well as the benefits of vaccination.
  9. It is strongly recommended that veterinarians report adverse events using established protocols to provide regulators, manufacturers, and the veterinary community with the best possible information on vaccine safety (14).
  10. The CVMA supports the funding of surveillance activities for infectious diseases. The results can provide veterinarians with the best information available to make informed decisions regarding vaccination protocols within a preventive health care plan.

References

  1. Roth J. Veterinary Vaccines and Their Importance to Animal Health and Public Health. Procedia in Vaccinology 2011;5:127-136, Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877282X11000270 Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  2. Monath T. Vaccines against diseases transmitted from animals to humans: A one Health Paradigm. Vaccine 2013;31:5321-5338. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.09.029 Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  3. Rabies in wildlife. Government of Ontario. Available from: https://www.ontario.ca/page/rabies-wildlife#section-4 Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  4. Vallat B. Vaccination as a tool to reduce antimicrobial resistance worldwide Engineering Conferences International ECI Digital Archives Vaccine Technology VI Proceedings 6-16-2016; Available from: http://dc.engconfintl.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1033&context=vaccine_vi Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  5. Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Veterinary Biologics. Available from: https://inspection.canada.ca/en/animal-health/veterinary-biologics Last accessed February 25, 2019.
  6. Guidelines for Use of Autogenous-Biologics. AVMA. Available from: https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Pages/Guidelines-for-Use-of-Autogenous-Biologics.aspx Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  7. Ellis J, Marziani E, Aziz C, et al. 2022 AAHA canine vaccination guidelines. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc. 2022;58(5):213-230.
  8. Vaccination Principles. AVMA 2018. Available from: https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Pages/Vaccination-Principles.aspx Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  9. Development of New Canine and Feline Preventive Healthcare Guidelines Designed to Improve Pet Health. J Am Animal Hospital Assoc 2011;47:306-311. Available from: https://www.aaha.org/wp-content/uploads/globalassets/02-guidelines/preventive-healthcare/aaha-preventive-healthcare-guidelines-for-dogs-and-cats.pdf Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  10. To titer or to revaccinate. JAVMA News 2016. Available from: https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/160701a.aspx Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  11. Moore GE, Morrison J, Saito EK et al. Breed, smaller weight, and multiple injections are associated with increased adverse event reports within three days following canine vaccine administration. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2023; 14:1-7.
  12. Hartmann K, Day MJ, Thiry E, Lloret A, Frymus T, Addie D, et al. Feline injection-site sarcoma: ABCD guidelines on prevention and management. J Feline Med Surg 2015;17:606-13. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26101312 Last accessed February 25, 2019.
  13. Valli JL. Suspected adverse reactions to vaccination in Canadian dogs and cats. Can Vet J 2015;56:1090-1092. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4572830/ Last accessed August 24, 2018.
  14. Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Veterinary Biologics Guideline 3.15E: Guideline for Reporting Suspected Adverse Events Related to Veterinary Biologics. Available from: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/veterinary-biologics/guidelines-forms/3-15e/eng/1328599858279/1328600476085 Last accessed August 24, 2018.