Why you should be following vaccine protocol

Ensuring the health and well-being of the dairy cow is the underlying foundation of any vaccination program. Quite simply, healthier animals produce better, and that’s a bottom-line benefit to all dairy operations. 

At their most basic, vaccines are remarkable. They help protect the dairy cow against a host of diseases throughout its life cycle. Yet, vaccines are not bulletproof. Circumstances can sometimes limit their effectiveness. A robust protocol can help ensure you are getting the most out of your vaccines.

Build an immune response

Vaccines help the animal build an immune response to a disease. Protocols are designed to administer vaccines before the animal is potentially exposed to the disease. Timelines differ, but in essence you want to deliver the vaccine in a time frame that allows the animal to develop an immune response, thus fighting off the pathogen. Effectiveness of the immune response can be impacted by a variety of factors, most notably if the animal is under stress. Working conditions or other management activities can impact when the vaccine is administered, meaning the animal may not develop a full immune response.

“For calves, we usually see respiratory diseases more often when they’re moved from hutches into group housing,” says Jen Roberts, veterinarian at Boehringer Ingelheim. “It’s like sending your kids to day care, where they are comingling in new surroundings and have an increased risk of exposure to pathogens. We wouldn’t want to send our kids to day care without the proper vaccines to make sure they are protected. The same is true for calves. We want to protect them against potential diseases before they get into that environment.”

That is the essence of a vaccine protocol. “One of the first things I think about when developing a vaccine protocol is which common diseases we are trying to protect against, when the animals will be at the most risk, and how can we position the vaccine administration to make sure the animal has the opportunity to mount an immune response prior to the anticipated disease challenge,” says Roberts. “Ideally, you want to give the vaccines four to six weeks before the potential disease challenge. That’s not always possible on every dairy, so I aim for a minimum of two weeks. If the vaccine you’re giving requires a booster, you should aim to administer the booster dose at least a couple weeks prior to the anticipated move or disease risk.”

Developing a one-size-fits-all vaccination program can be difficult, especially in calves, because one producer may deal with a wider range of ages in a single pen. “Aim for an average age that fits into the labeled directions of the vaccine you’re using,” says Roberts.

Vaccine administration gets somewhat easier when the cow enters the herd, but it’s equally important to maintain a schedule that ensures a good immune response.

Keep those records

Good record keeping is imperative in any vaccine program. Records log when and where vaccines were administered and provide a paper trail in the event a disease outbreak occurs.

“If your herd experiences a health event — such as a respiratory disease outbreak, an increased number of abortions, or a spike in mastitis infections — records can help piece together the root cause of the problem. Did those animals get their vaccines? When? What else was occurring at that time? When we look at a disease outbreak, we look at it from a diagnostic standpoint,” Roberts says. “These records are critical in determining what has occurred and what plan of action needs to be taken.”

Stress and vaccines

Undue stresses can impact the immune response in the animal and should be avoided. “Any stressors, whether they are external like pen movements or internal like a concurrent disease issue, have an impact on that animal’s immune response,” Roberts says. “It’s best to avoid vaccinating calves that are sick or at the same time as a stressful event such as weaning to ensure they have the ability to mount the best immune response.”

Not every animal responds to a vaccine in the same way. That’s why booster programs are critically important in a vaccine protocol.

“It’s a chance to catch the animals that didn’t have a good immune response to the first vaccine,” she adds. “One of the things that we like to say is that vaccination does not equal immunization. Vaccination is the act of giving the vaccine to an animal, but immunization is what happens when that animal receives a vaccine and mounts an immune response.”

An animal with a less-than-optimal immune response to the vaccine may be more vulnerable if a disease challenge is present.

Compliance and the real world

Roberts says the bottom line for any vaccine protocol is to have a schedule in place and have it documented when the vaccines are administered. “But sometimes the ideal program conflicts with other management issues on the farm. Perhaps you have a machinery breakdown at harvest or there’s a labor shortage and you don’t have enough employees available. Or perhaps you have some unexpected pen overcrowding that’s putting additional stress on the animals. Maybe it’s a new group of calves coming into the farm. All these things can impact the success of a vaccine,” she adds.

Roberts says building any program starts with having a meaningful conversation between the producer and the veterinarian to develop a program that is reasonable and achievable on the farm. 

“I can build a Cadillac vaccine program for any farm,” she says. “But if the producer isn’t able to get the vaccines done due to a lack of employees to implement the program, or because the handling facilities are not ideal for administering vaccines, then compliance is going to suffer. All these things need to be considered so your vaccine program achieves the best possible level of protection for the health of your animals.”