They report more details about the development in an article that has not yet been reviewed, posted on the bioRxiv preprint service, writes "Gazeta.ru".

The researchers noticed that vaccinated or COVID-19 women had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in their breast milk and suggested that the milk of cows and goats vaccinated against COVID-19 could be used to immunize the population.

The authors of the work vaccinated domestic goats and cows with the ZF-UZ-VAC2001 vaccine intended for humans three times. Neutralizing antibodies were detected in serum two weeks after the first vaccination. Experiments on cell cultures have shown that the antibodies successfully neutralize SARS-CoV-2 - the effectiveness in blood serum reached 100%, in milk - 40%.

"The first results of experimental testing showed that the human vaccine ZF-UZ-VAC2001 can be safely used for vaccination of domestic farm animals in order to obtain immune biologically active milk and whey containing specific neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2," the authors concluded. They expect that the milk produced in this way can be used for mass passive immunization of the population.

In addition, antibodies are preserved after pasteurization, which makes it possible to harvest immunized milk in large volumes.