Scientists work in VIDO-InterVac’s laboratory at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Oct. 18, 2019.
VIDO-InterVac/Reuters
Because of physical distancing, Darryl Falzarano and his colleagues couldn’t celebrate with a group hug when they completed a successful test of their candidate vaccine for COVID-19.
Nor could they share their promising results with other colleagues at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organizaton-International Vaccine Centre, since they are the only scientists allowed to come to work in the Saskatoon-based facility.
But it was exciting news nonetheless when their readouts showed that the ferrets in their study were able to fight off the disease after receiving two doses of the team’s in-house vaccine. The positive outcome sets the stage for tests with human subjects, which could begin as early as this fall.
“It’s what we were looking for, so that tells us to continue on the path that we’re on,” said Dr. Falzarano, who is the lead investigator on the project.
The Saskatoon team, which had previously been working toward a vaccine for MERS, a related disease caused by a different coronavirus, pivoted to working on COVID-19 as soon at the genetic sequence of the virus was published in February. Weeks later, their lab was the first in Canada to isolate the virus.
The team’s results, announced on Monday, are the latest hopeful sign that – so far – Canadian researchers and their global counterparts are making progress in their efforts to produce a vaccine that will be safe and effective against COVID-19.
Earlier this month, Quebec-based biotech company Medicago Inc. announced positive results of animal studies with its vaccine candidate. Last week, IMV Inc., another Quebec company, said it is in a similar position. Both companies have indicated that they hope to begin clinical trials this summer pending Health Canada approval.
Meanwhile, a clinical trial of the first and only COVID-19 vaccine that is already approved for human testing in Canada is set to begin next week and could grow to include as many as 600 participants by the end of August.
The vaccine was produced by CanSino Biologics, a Chinese company, using an approach that stems from an earlier collaboration with Canada’s National Research Council. It was first tested in a non-randomized clinical trial that involved 108 subjects in Wuhan. Last week, the effort yielded the first peer-reviewed study of any COVID-19 vaccine, published on Friday in the medical journal The Lancet. Researchers in China reported that their subjects experienced mostly mild to moderate reactions, and that the vaccine stimulated the production of antibodies that can neutralize the virus. More work will be needed to confirm the result. This will include the Canadian trial. But even larger trials will be needed to show if the vaccine is truly effective at preventing COVID-19. Even if all proceeds without a hitch, most experts do not expect a vaccine that is widely available for the public until next year.
Scientists caution that even at the breakneck speed with which the vaccine research is being conducted, it is still early days. Many candidate vaccines are likely to fail. Even those that succeed in animal studies and are shown to be safe for humans may produce lacklustre results once studies expand.
This why the global race to develop a vaccine is proceeding in multiple directions. As some candidates flame out, others will take over as front runners. And should more than one vaccine prove to be effective, it could turn out that different vaccines will work best for different subpopulations or age groups.
“There are a number of reasons to have multiple eggs in the basket,” said Scott Halperin, director of the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology in Halifax, which is organizing the trial of the CanSino vaccine. “The more candidates you have, the more likely you’re going to have a success.”
Several years ago, Dr. Halperin, who is also a professor at Dalhousie University, was involved in developing an adjuvant – a compound that primes the immune system and can improve a vaccine’s performance. The Saskatoon team is using the adjuvant in its vaccine.
After the candidate vaccine was developed in March, the team administered it to ferrets in two immunizations 28 days apart. After another 28 days, half the animals were exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19. The animals generated a strong immune response and produced antibodies that neutralized the virus.
“Based on our MERS data, we expected it to work in ferrets … but you never know in science” Dr. Falzarano said. “We don’t have years of experience [with COVID-19], we have months.”
Medicago’s president and chief executive officer, Bruce Clark, said his company’s vaccine was tested in mice, which also generated antibodies. Further tests are needed to determine if those antibodies can neutralize the novel coronavirus. But Dr. Clark, who holds a PhD in biochemistry, said he was encouraged that the mice produced antibodies within 10 days after one shot of the vaccine. This suggests that if the vaccine is effective in humans, its immunizing effects will emerge quickly, he said.
“When you have as serious a disease as COVID, you don’t want something that’s going to take three months to generate the maximum response,” Dr. Clark added.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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