The furious search for a vaccine to knock out the COVID-19 threat is underway in several centres across Canada as well around the world. The best guess is that with necessary testing, it might be 18 months before a vaccine could arrive in doctors’ offices. Media reports say a key moment in research came January 10, when researchers in China released the genomic sequence for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Since then, no fewer than 60 vaccine projects have been launched around the world, by some estimates.
Sunnybrook HSC, U of T and McMaster isolate the virus
Another key moment came in early March when researchers at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, the University of Toronto and McMaster University managed to isolate and culture the virus from two patients. This meant that lab-grown copies of the virus would be available for researchers around the world who are looking for a vaccine or treatment. In the past few months, more than half a dozen projects have sprouted up across Canada in pursuit of a vaccine and using various different approaches to the problem.
