With livestock health under ever increasing scrutiny, the National Sheep Association is highlighting the critical need to address the ongoing issues with disruption to animal vaccine supply.

For the past two years, the NSA has raised serious concerns over the disruption and has regularly called on vaccine manufacturers, the Veterinary Medicines Directive (VMD), and the UK Government, for action to secure reliable vaccine supplies.

NSA chief executive officer Phil Stocker says: “We know that improved health leads to reduction in waste, productivity gains, and lower carbon footprints, as well as more responsible use of antibiotics. However, as vaccine availability has become a serious issue it is negatively impacting the health and welfare of animals, at the time when we need vaccines most.”

Over the past three years, the availability of vital vaccines for both sheep and beef has become scarce.

Mr Stocker continues: “During 2021, 63 per cent of the national sheep flock was vaccinated against clostridial diseases and 51 per cent against Pasteurellosis. Not only are sheep farmers across the country now struggling to get these vaccines but now vaccines protecting against diseases such as toxoplasmosis, enzootic abortion, foot rot, and orf are also in short supply, all of which protect against often catastrophic consequences for individual animals.

“The NSA is especially concerned the lack of availability of these vaccines will be detrimental to animal health and welfare, and result in prolonged suffering for animals, that may require antibiotic use at a time when farmers have been doing their very best to minimise the use of these valuable treatments. The NSA is worried that after all the efforts made to encourage vaccine use, many farmers will have no choice but to stop vaccinating and if they see few immediate problems getting them to start again will be difficult.”

NSA is demanding strategic government level action to secure a reliable vaccine supply, and has written to the VMD, APHA, vaccine manufacturers and distributors, and Defra, calling on them to work with the farming and veterinary industry to secure a much more resilient vaccine production and distribution chain in the UK.

Mr Stocker concludes: “There is little point in encouraging vaccine uptake if farmers can’t access the products. NSA is hearing time and again that the disruptions are Brexit related, and as an independent nation we now need some strategic forward thinking and planning to overcome these problems and avoid them happening again.”