07/29/2026
Should you get the snake vaccine. This is from the national snake bite support
NSS does not recommend the vaccine. It only has a conditional license from the USDA, meaning it has passed the required purity, potency, and safety requirements, but has not demonstrated the efficacy required to be fully licensed. There are no good, published data demonstrating that it helps to buy time or reduce the severity of an envenomation. Further, there are some rare but potentially serious adverse reactions that can occur following vaccination.
This article explains in more detail: https://www.snakebitefoundation.org/blog/2023/6/13/veterinary-experts-do-not-recommend-the-rattlesnake-vaccine
This recent educational collaboration between the Arizona Poison Control Center and the University of Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, featuring our own veterinary expert Dr. Sarah Fieler Carotenuto, also discusses the lack of efficacy of the vaccine: https://youtu.be/DrW14xBlHeY?is=pzPMtKzuENJpKmu-