ENTEBBE: All animals currently kept at the Uganda Wildlife Conservation Education Centre (UWEC) will undergo vaccination against Covid-19, the authorities have announced.
According to the Executive Director of UWEC, Mr James Musinguzi, they are working with Zoetis, a US animal health company that has developed a COVID-19 vaccine for animals.
“We are working together with Ngamba chimpanzee sanctuary, and Zoetis company to get a vaccine called zoetis to be able to vaccinate all our chimps and other animals,” Mr Musinguzi said.
“But of course we shall have to first do some trials with the monkeys to observe how they react but vaccination for the chimpanzees and other animals is in the pipeline,’’ he added
He was speaking on Wednesday during celebrations to mark Zakayo Day in Entebbe on Wednesday.
Zakayo is a chimp that died at the age of 54 years at UWEC.
Mr David Musingo, the manager of the education and information department at UWEC, said the reason they celebrate Zakayo Day is to tell Ugandans the importance of conservation because the wild animals contribute a lot towards Uganda’s tourism sector.
“Zakayo played a big role in the tourism sector therefore I call upon all Ugandans to work together so that we conserve our environment,” he said.
Mr Musinguzi also revealed that UWEC will this weekend conduct vaccination against Covid-19 for its visitors.
“We have made an arrangement with Entebbe Regional Referral hospital , and we felt that the two days Saturday and Sunday can be sufficient for our clients to be able to come and benefit from the vaccination,” said Mr Musinguzi.