The Director and CEO of USask’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization on the USask campus, considers the results to date for the clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine to be very encouraging. Dr. Volkder Gerdts says the interim results of the trial in Halifax show immune responses very comparable to other already approved vaccines. VIDO also tested against the Delta variant, and it has proven to be very effective.

The clinical trial continues in Halifax and now in Saskatchewan, with well over 500 people volunteering in this province. Dr. Gerdts adds that VIDO is also working with some countries in Africa, so a clinical trial is happening there as well. He says, “If you think about the numbers, there are parts of this world who haven’t even had any vaccine yet, so we think our VIDO vaccine could help in providing access to these countries.” Gerdts explains that the VIDO vaccine is easy to handle, transport and store, so it may be handy and cost-effective to use where transport is an issue, like low and middle income countries, including remote locations in Africa.