This year could turn out to be one of many firsts for VIDO on the USask campus.

The Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization has two COVID-19 vaccines in the works, and both are entering phase two clinical trials.
Director and CEO, Dr. Volker Gerdts says their first vaccine showed positive results in phase one, which was done in Halifax.

This next phase of clinical trials will be done in various sites across Canada, but Dr. Gerdts couldn’t say whether any of them would be Saskatchewan. He adds that they are also testing this vaccine against the Omicron variant.

If successful, Dr. Gerdts says VIDO is working with a number of companies which have expressed an interest in licensing the vaccine and making it available.

The second COVID-19 vaccine is specifically for low and middle income countries, through funding from the international Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, or CEPI.

It was designed to be easy to transport and store, and Dr. Gerdts adds that if testing in Africa is successful, the hope is to transfer the technology there, and then have the vaccine manufactured locally.