By 2026, the vet vaccine market is projected to be worth $12,000 million or $12 billion by 2026, up from $6.1 billion in 2017 (Source: EIN News). This is an almost 50% increase in just under 10 years.
"Increasing prevalence of animal diseases such as rift valley fever and rotavirus, rising utilization of different types of animal vaccines, and increasing awareness regarding the availability of different types of vaccination programs in motivating the growth of the global veterinary vaccines market in coming years. Rising prevalence of avian influenza and foot and mouth disease, considered as two of the foremost trans barrier animal diseases have also fueled the requirement for enhanced products in the global veterinary vaccines market" (Source: EIN News).
This means that companies like Merck Animal Health, Eli Lilly and Company,Ceva Santé Animale, Biovac, ImmuCell Corporation, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Zoetis, Inc., Bayer Animal health AG, Virbac, and Neogen Corporation are going to make an insane amount of money. Vaccines are products. Products are made to fulfill needs and make profit.
According to AKC guidelines, puppies and dogs are being vaccinated regularly for distemper, rabies, parvo, corona, leptospirosis, bordatella and giardia. Vaccines are absolutely important, but shouldn't be administered "just cuz" the guidelines or your vet say so. This is where selling the product, vaccines, and profit comes in. The more vaccines our animals receive, the more money those companies I mentioned above, make.
These are also the same companies that manufacture animal prescription medication. I don't mean to sound cynical here, but the more you vaccinate, the sicker your dog will get, the more medication you will receive, the sicker your dog will get, round and round you will go and those companies have made a small fortune selling their products to you and profiting off of your sick animal.
Why are we vaccinating so much when medical journals have published data that clearly indicates that vaccines are designed to last in the body for 7.5 years - 15 years (Source: Jean Dodds Vaccine Protocol).
Vaccinating excessively “has the client paying for a service that is likely to be of little benefit to the pet’s existing level of protection against infectious disease. It also increases the risk of adverse reactions from the repeated exposure to foreign substances” (Source: Jean Dodds Vaccine Protocol).
Further, a 2018 study collected data from VacciCheck, an antibody titer test from 16 different Dutch veterinary clinics and patients and results concluded that “most of the dogs that received last core vaccine more than 3 years ago still has a protective level of antibodies against CDV, CAV and CPV,” (Source: An Analysis of Titer Testing) which supports the use of antibody titer testing before repeat vaccinations are administered.
To answer my own question, we are vaccinating so much because the same companies that are manufacturing vaccines are the same ones that are manufacturing kibble and donating to vet schools and buying and corporatizing vet hospitals all over the world. There is no regulation and this is about selling product to create profit.
On an unfortunate and depressing note, our animals are getting sicker (as are humans). Lifespans are getting shorter, not longer (like humans) and we need to ask ourselves why. I believe it is a combination of too many vaccines, poor nutrition, exposure to environmental toxins and lack of education that keep perpetuating bad outcomes for our animals and us too. That's the point of this blog: to educate.
Take a look at the AKC recommended vaccine guidelines vs. ours. You will notice that our guidelines advise against vaccinating regularly. without an antibody titer first. Antibody titer test, which measures concentrations of antibodies in the blood to determine vaccine/protection status of an animal before any future vaccinations.
If we all titered before administering any vaccines, our animals would be healthier, live longer and those companies wouldn't be able to sell so much of their "one size fits all "product to profit off of us as individuals and our animals.
-Written by Erica L.