Because a new coronavirus strain has appeared on Danish mink farms, mink-related variants of the pandemic have infected more than 200 people with a mutation called “Cluster 5.” In order to prevent further spread, on November 4 the Danish government announced that all mink in the country would be killed.
That is terrible. Why not just vaccinate the minks?-- el dueno, Nov 14 2020 If a mink-appropriate vaccine were rushed into production without sufficient testing, then side-effected minks might sue.-- pertinax, Nov 14 2020 Killing mink = weaseling out.-- whatrock, Nov 14 2020 Nice one, [what].
Not just minks; bats, cats, other mustelids, all primates, rodents...
There's evidence from the CDC that dogs are asymptomatic carriers, too.
Thus it is very questionable whether the cull will achieve anything useful at all. To follow the logic, infected humans should also be culled. Strangely, this is not being done.
Because of the short mutational half-life, vaccines are of very limited effectiveness, and that will remain the case for the foreseeable future.
<Cackling and bitter nihilistic misanthropic gloating/>
(Technically, it's not a new strain, but a variant serotype, which is not the same thing at all; if it were truly a "new strain" it wouldn't be COVID-19 but would be assigned a new designation)-- 8th of 7, Nov 14 2020 //a variant serotype//
So with a small mutation we could have a vaccine for monks?-- pertinax, Nov 14 2020 Possibly, but we are not sure that monk coats have any commercial value. Also, they don't breed (allegedly) so are likely to be on some endangered species list somewhere. They were hunted to extinction in England in the 16th century, since when hunting, trapping* or poisoning them has been banned (allegedly).
*The situation regarding Trappist monks is unclear; they may actually enjoy it, but they won't tell...-- 8th of 7, Nov 14 2020 Some of them took to the trees to escape, and became known as the brotherhood of monkeys.-- xenzag, Nov 14 2020 They certainly have some dirty habits ...-- 8th of 7, Nov 14 2020 Some of them opened fast-food takeaways; they would operate in pairs, the friar and the chip monk.-- pocmloc, Nov 14 2020 Ohhhhhh ...
<Adds [poc]'s name to list of those selected for pointlessly cruel medical experiments/>
As [pert] noted, "covid19 vaccine for minks" could also elide gracefully into "covid19 vaccine for mimes".
Perhaps they could just pretend to have a new, continuous cough ?-- 8th of 7, Nov 14 2020 I see a small potential shortfall in manufacturing supply...-- RayfordSteele, Nov 16 2020 random, halfbakery