They are our relatives, cousins to us all, to old and young, to those who have been vaccinated and those who refuse to be. Last week, all seven of the orangutans at the National Zoo got their coronavirus shots, the zoo said.

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       The jab went also to other zoo creatures sharing genes with us. They were a western lowland gorilla, a white-eared titi monkey and two emperor tamarins.

       Close as their kinship may be to us, they apparently did not get the same vaccine that we do. On Wednesday, the zoo said, staff members wielded needles to give “animal- specific” vaccines.

       The Agriculture Department has authorized a vaccine made by Zoetis specifically for animals, the zoo said. All 11 recipients of the first round are to get a second dose.

       Veterinarians and keepers are watching the inoculated primates carefully, and on Friday the zoo said they had seen no side effects.

       Shots will continue for certain animals in species considered susceptible to the infection, the zoo said. Animals both at the zoo in the District and at the e Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., will get shots, the zoo said.