Tag : Pets

Washington: According to a recent study, dog owners in the US who have concerns about the effectiveness and safety of children's and adults' vaccines are also more likely to have doubts about vaccinating their dogs. Public confidence in adult and child vaccines has declined during the pandemic, largely spurred by misperceptions and mistrust in the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine. Now a new study led by a Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) researcher suggests that this hesitancy towards COVID vaccines extends to pet vaccinations, as well—and at worrying levels. Published in the journal Vaccine, the study analyzed a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States and found that more than half of people who own dogs expressed some level of canine vaccine hesitancy—i.e. skepticism about vaccinating their pets against rabies and other diseases. An estimated 45 percent of US households own a dog; according to the survey results, nearly 40 percent of dog owners believe that canine vaccines are unsafe, more than 20 per cent believe these vaccines are ineffective, and 30 percent consider them to be medically unnecessary. About 37 per cent of dog owners also believe that canine vaccination could cause their dogs to develop autism, even though there is no scientific data that validates this risk for animals or humans. The study is the first to formally quantify the prevalence, origins, and health policy consequences of concerns about canine vaccination. The survey was conducted between March 30 and April 10, 2023 among 2,200 dog owners who answered questions through the research sampling firm YouGov. Notably, the findings show indication of a COVID vaccine “spillover” effect in the US—that people who hol ...