New equine influenza vaccination rules came into effect on 1 January 2023, following a 12-month transition period to help trainers adjust to the changes.
These require all horses to be vaccinated in line with the new primary course and booster vaccination interval schedules set out below:
| |
Historic Intervals |
Intervals from 1 January |
| V1 |
|
|
| V2 |
21 - 92 days |
21 - 60 days |
| V3 |
150 - 215 days |
120 - 180 days |
| Booster |
Not more than 1 year apart |
Not more than 6 months apart |
However, it appears that a large number of horses are not currently eligible to race, either because they have not yet received a booster vaccination, or it has not been uploaded and verified on the Weatherbys Vaccination App.
Given the situation, and following engagement with trainers and the National Trainers Federation (NTF), the BHA has extended the year-long transition period until Sunday 15 January 2023.
This provides additional time for trainers to achieve compliance with the new EI vaccination rules, while helping to avoid disappointment for connections at an important period of the season.
Key next steps
The new booster intervals will now become fully effective from Sunday 15 January.
This means that entries made from Monday 9 January for races from 15 January will only be accepted for horses that have received a booster vaccination within the previous six months.
Please note that vaccinations must have been administered, uploaded to the Weatherbys App AND verified by your veterinary surgeon BEFORE the close of entries.
Any horse that does not meet the updated vaccine requirements for races from 15 January will be ineligible to run and required to start a new primary course.
This will mean a stand-down period of at least 27 days: 21 days for the two primary vaccinations then a further six clear days before the day of the race.
Daily Vaccination App verification reminders
Please remember that all equine influenza vaccination records must be verified by a veterinary surgeon using the Weatherbys Vaccination App.
This is essential, as trainers are unable to make an entry for the horse in question until the verification process has been completed.
Veterinary surgeons now receive two daily email reminders – one at 8am and the second at 4pm – to notify them about any outstanding vaccinations in the App.
Trainers also now receive email reminders following vaccination upload: the first at 8am, another 24 hours later, and then a reminder every 48 hours alerting you to any vaccinations awaiting veterinary sign-off.
Please see the user guide for help with using the Vaccination App.