Apes at San Diego Zoo become first non-human primates to receive COVID-19 vaccine

Nine great apes at the San Diego Zoo — four orangutans and five bonobos — have made veterinary history by becoming the world’s first non-human primates known to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

One of the recipients was a 28-year-old female Sumatran orangutan named Karen who had garnered headlines at the zoo when she became the first ape to undergo open-heart surgery in 1994.

Each of the nine animals received two doses of an…