A skyrocketing demand for subjects has led to a dire shortage of test monkeys, according to the National Primate Research Centers, a network that provides monkeys in biomedical research.
MICHAEL MAJCHROWICZ: Last night, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) COVID vaccine panel recommended that the agency authorize the Pfizer vaccine to be distributed in the U.S., which could begin as early as next week. Monkeys and other nonhuman test subjects have been an extremely valuable research component in helping the medical community better understand COVID…
At least five entities in Florida, including one in Miami-Dade, import or breed monkeys for research and testing purposes. In 2017, at least 1,729 monkeys were used in lab settings in Florida, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture… Now, a skyrocketing demand for laboratory subjects has led to a dire shortage of test monkeys, according to the National Primate Research Centers, a network that provides support for researchers who use monkeys in biomedical research…
Test monkeys have been infected with the virus in controlled settings where researchers have monitored how the animals’ immune systems — which closely resemble a human’s — respond to various treatments. The practice is not without controversy. At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, advocacy groups like the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) were on high alert and prepared to block research facilities from gaining access to monkeys for testing purposes. According to the ARFF, monkeys are used for lab research at at least five locations in Florida: the Mannheimer Foundation in Homestead and LaBelle; Primate Products and Bioculture, both in Immokalee; and Primera Science Center/PreLabs in Lehigh Acres…
Animal rights groups like the ARFF say regardless of what kind of research is being done, testing on animals is inhumane… “We’re opposed to the use of animals for experimentation and testing on moral grounds,” he says. “We think animals have a fundamental right not to be harmed. We think a better way of finding that vaccine is through human clinical trials and other non-animal methods”… Nick Atwood, a spokesperson with the ARFF, tells New Times… Earlier this year, the organization attempted to intervene when it discovered monkeys were being shipped to Florida to become test subjects. the advocacy group learned over the spring that an airline, Skybus Jet Cargo, had been contracted to transport monkeys from the East African island nation of Mauritius to Miami for lab research related to COVID.
The ARFF joined forces with other animal-rights groups and pressured the airline to pull out from what Atwood says was a nearly half-million-dollar deal. After some back and forth and multiple attempts to reschedule the flight of the monkeys, Skybus walked away… Although it’s unclear how many monkeys were transported to the U.S. or where they were taken, Atwood says he and his colleagues did their part to ensure the bulk of the animals were steered clear of becoming lab subjects, their importance to vaccine development notwithstanding. SOURCE…
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