New COVID-19 vaccine development and protecting the pork indsutry from African Swine Fever

Infectious diseases threaten the health of people and animals and impact the global economy. The University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) works with international partners to study human and animal pathogens and develop solutions. VIDO-InterVac has developed a COVID-19 vaccine which it is preparing to test in humans.  Just before Christmas VIDO-InterVac received approval from Health Canada to begin a combined phase-1, phase-2 human clinical trial of its vaccine to protect against COVID-19. Director and CEO Dr. Volker Gerdts says that vaccine was developed using a technology that is proved to be safe, reliable, and cost effective. We have heard about the devastating impact of African Swine Fever (ASF) on the pig population. Canada is still ASF free, but the work continues to prevent the spread but there is also a lot of work going on behind the scenes developing a strategy to deal with it IF it comes to Canada. John Ross with the Canadian Pork Council will explain the complex process involved in developing a plan in order to protect the industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.