Farmers are not interested in the African swine fever vaccine

Very low rate of registration

Implement the direction of the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province in document No. 4356/UBND-NL5 on the use of the African swine fever vaccine (ASF). Over the past month, 13 districts, towns and cities in this province have implemented many propaganda measures and mobilized livestock farmers to register for ASF vaccine vaccination. However, up to now, the number of households registered to vaccinate pigs is very modest. 

4/13 localities have registered for the African swine fever vaccine vaccination list. However, to ensure conditions for organizing vaccination, the Department is asking districts, towns and cities to continue to review to see if the number of registered people is correct, checking if they are the right subjects, ages and conditions to ensure biosecurity in livestock farming", said an officer of Ha Tinh Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine.

According to this official, the propaganda and encouragement of livestock farmers to get vaccinated against ASFV in the Ha Tinh professional sector have been implemented very methodically. At the same time, instructions on some technical contents of African swine fever vaccination are issued. But to prevent possible risks, Ha Tinh will take careful steps, first deploying in a small area and then scaling up.

Duc Tho district has a total herd of more than 28,000 pigs, of which 11,000 are raised on 17 farms, with a scale of 500 - 1,000 pigs/farm; The remainder are raised by farmers.

After the District People's Committee announced the policy, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development sent forces to the commune to propagate the plan to mobilize ASF vaccination on pigs to each farming household. However, currently, there are only two communes: Tung Anh registered 10 doses and Lam Trung Thuy registered 50 doses. 

Sharing the same situation, in the entire Nghi Xuan district, only two communes, Xuan Vien and Xuan Hai, registered to be vaccinated, with a total of 115 doses. Meanwhile, the total pig herd in this district is more than 21,500 pigs, of which more than 12,600 pigs are raised on farms/10 facilities. According to research, not only are livestock farmers not interested, but most large-scale farms also do not have the need to register for ASF vaccine.

Mr Nguyen Thai Huy, owner of a sow and pork farm in Duc Tho district, said: During this period, live pig prices are low, vaccine prices are expected to be relatively high, and many strains of the virus causing ASF are circulating in the environment. Vaccination with the correct strain can increase the pig's resistance. If the vaccine is of the wrong strain, it can cause great losses to farmers.

Confused about vaccine policies and prices

When asked the reason why the registration rate for ASF vaccine vaccination among livestock farmers is modest, Mr Nguyen Tien Tuan, Deputy Head of the Agriculture Department of Duc Tho district said that this is a new vaccine and currently there is no policy mechanism to support the vaccine or support post-vaccination risks, so farmers are still worried about the effectiveness and price of the vaccine.

“If farmers want to ensure safety, they will take samples to check their health before vaccination. The average testing price ranges from VND 500 - 600 thousand/sample. In the context of increasing input prices and decreasing live pig prices, it is easy to understand why people are hesitant to spend on testing and purchasing ASF vaccines but the disease prevention effectiveness is still uncertain", said Mr Tuan.

Sharing the same opinion, Ms Le Thi Yen, Deputy Department of Agriculture of Nghi Xuan district said: “The important key right now is that we do not know the price of the vaccine and there is no support policy in case the vaccinated pigs die and have to be destroyed.

Nghi Xuan district proposed that the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine soon announce vaccine prices. The district requested the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to advise the Provincial People's Committee to have a policy mechanism to support vaccines as well as a risk mechanism after ASF vaccine vaccination for livestock farmers".

ASF first appeared in Ha Tinh in May 2019. According to the report of the Ha Tinh Department of Livestock and Veterinary Medicine, from January 2021 to December 15, 2021, ASF occurred in 134 communes and towns in 13 districts, cities and towns with a total of more than 16,300 infected pigs, forcing the destruction of 16,260 pigs, weighing 1,199 tons.

Up to now, our country has had 2 types of ASFVA vaccines (NAVET-ASFVAC researched, produced and produced by NAVETCO Central Veterinary Medicine Joint Stock Company) and AVAC ASF LIVE - researched and produced by AVAC Vietnam Joint Stock Company). They are registered and issue a certificate of circulation in accordance with the provisions of the Veterinary Law and international technical standards for veterinary vaccines.

These are the first commercial ASF vaccines licensed for circulation, especially in the context that after more than 100 years, there has been no licensed commercial vaccine to prevent ASF in the world