Saskatchewan-made Pandemic Solution

If all the coverage of our vaccine roll-out has taught us anything as a nation, it is that there is a price to pay for independence.

Because Canada has been left in the unenviable position of relying on foreign suppliers to meet our vaccine needs, we now know that abandoning local production in favor of cheaper off-shore suppliers may not be cheaper after all.

This drives home the importance of an initiative underway in Saskatchewan to have Saskatoon and the VIDO InterVac operations at the U of S named as Canada’s National Pandemic Research Centre. All they need now is some funding.

The project has secured its public sector support but now it needs matching private sector dollars to demonstrate community commitment to the effort. Looking to raise $5 million in private sector contributions to take this the next step, they have now raised 40-percent of the goal and, at the same time, the VIDO InterVac vaccine is in phase 2 of its trials as the journey to producing a Saskatchewan-made vaccine is getting closer to its end.