Sask.-made vaccine likely to be used as a booster shot, says VIDO CEO

The COVID-19 vaccine being developed at Saskatoon’s VIDO-InterVac research facility is winding down the first phase of its clinical trial.

“We have not seen any significant adverse reactions to it. There have been a few cases of headache reported, but that is very common among these vaccines,” said Dr. Volker Gerdts, VIDO’s director and CEO.

“In terms of an immune response, we clearly see a very strong response in all of these individuals. The responses are comparable to what we see from the other vaccines.”

The next batch of volunteers from Saskatchewan are being screened and will receive their shots late next week.

That will be the final round of testing before VIDO’s vaccine moves into the next phase of clinical trials, which will involve a larger pool of people.

“As you know, this vaccine offers many advantages over the RNA vaccine — the ease of handling, the ease of transportation and storage. It doesn’t require the ultra-low freezers. It’s more cost effective,” said Gerdts.

“There are lots of advantages which I think make it appealing in the future to be used as a booster in rural Saskatchewan or even outside of Canada in those countries that currently don’t have vaccines.”

The vaccine was tweaked earlier in the year to be more effective against the emerging variants.

Gerdts said during clinical trials, VIDO can adjust the vaccine to be more effective against variants like the Delta strain.

“For the Delta variant, our vaccine seems to work very well,” he said. “If there are others in the future, we may have to update it to get better protection.”

There remains no timeline for when the Saskatchewan-made vaccine will be ready for the general public.

Gerdts noted when the vaccine does receive approval, it will be manufactured at the research facility on the University of Saskatchewan campus where a new facility is being built.