Simplification of BTV Prescribing & Supply Reduces Costs for Farmers

IFA Animal Health Chair David Hall said the practical changes made by the Department of Agriculture for the sourcing of BTV 3 vaccine for farmers and vets will reduce costs and simplify prescribing of the product.

He said the adjustments are a practical response to concerns raised by IFA about unnecessary administration that would slow down the vaccination rollout. 

“These changes are a clear step in the right direction. Farmers and vets need a system that allows vaccines to get onto farms quickly without being tied up in excessive administration,” he said.

Under the revised approach, veterinary practitioners must still notify the Department of Agriculture of the herd numbers to be added to their vaccine licence, but they no longer need to wait for confirmation from the Department before supplying the vaccine to farmers. 

David Hall said one of the biggest concerns for smaller farmers was the cost of having to buy a 50ml bottle of vaccine when they only need a small number of doses.

He said this concern has now been resolved in a very practical way that reduces the costs for farmers, allowing the purchase of the number of doses required on the farm and increasing availability of product by making available the remaining product to other farmers.

Vets can prescribe in animal doses and prescribe for multiple farms from the same bottle to facilitate this, effectively allowing farmers share bottles of vaccine.

David Hall said there are 1.15m doses of vaccine in the country, with 600,000 of these already secured by farmers.  “Shipments of vaccination are arriving this week and again next week, which will continue to support the strong uptake we are seeing.”  

He concluded by saying farmers must remain vigilant for signs of the disease and continue to report any concerns to their PVP or Local Department and continue to submit samples of still born calves and lambs to the RVL.