COVID-19 timeline: VIDO’s response
In early 2020, as COVID-19 began to spread globally, VIDO mobilized its high-containment facilities, researchers, and partners to respond. The timeline below highlights key milestones in VIDO’s COVID-19 research, vaccine development, partnerships, and community support efforts.
December 31, 2019 - China reports a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The outbreak is later identified as a novel coronavirus.
January 5, 2020 - The World Health Organization issues Disease Outbreak News: Pneumonia of unknown cause.
January 2020 – 2024 - VIDO was invited to contribute to the first World Health Organization (WHO) expert meeting on COVID-19 and continued participating in weekly WHO discussions throughout the pandemic.
January 10, 2020 - Days after the virus’s genetic sequence is shared internationally, VIDO begins designing a vaccine candidate.
January 22, 2020 - VIDO receives formal permission from the Public Health Agency of Canada to work with SARS-CoV-2 in its containment level 3 facility. News Release
February 5, 2020 - Clinical samples from Canada’s first COVID-19 cases are received through the National Microbiology Laboratory.
February 14, 2020 - VIDO scientists successfully isolate SARS-CoV-2. Virus samples are shared with laboratories across Canada to support diagnostic testing and research.
February 24, 2020 - Development of a ferret model of COVID-19 begins, allowing researchers to test vaccines and therapeutics.
March 6, 2020 - VIDO researchers are awarded approximately $1 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support COVID-19 research. News Release
March 9, 2020 - Ferrets are immunized with two in-house COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
March 11, 2020 - The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a global pandemic.
March 23, 2020 - The Government of Canada announces $23.3 million to support vaccine manufacturing and containment operations at VIDO. News Release
March 25, 2020 - The Government of Saskatchewan announces $3.6 million in funding to advance COVID-19 vaccine research. News Release
April 3, 2020 - Development of a Syrian golden hamster model of COVID-19 begins.
April 23, 2020 - An additional $23 million in federal funding is announced to accelerate vaccine development. News Release
May 14, 2020 - Hamsters are immunized with VIDO’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
May 25, 2020 - Preclinical results in the ferret model demonstrate strong protection from VIDO’s vaccine candidate.
July 2020 - VIDO partners with the Saskatchewan Health Authority to sterilize N95 masks using vaporized hydrogen peroxide, helping address PPE shortages.
July 22, 2020 - Canadian universities partner with VIDO to strengthen the national COVID-19 research response. News Release
September 21, 2020 - Toxicology studies begin, an essential step toward human clinical trials.
December 22, 2020 - Health Canada authorizes a Phase 1 clinical trial of VIDO’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate. News Release
February 10, 2021 - The first volunteers are vaccinated in VIDO’s Phase 1 clinical trial. News Release
June 23, 2021 - Positive Phase 1 trial results confirm the vaccine candidate is safe and produces a strong immune response. News Release
June 10, 2022 – VIDO was the first to isolate and study the Omicron variant in Canada, helping inform the public vaccination strategy. Read the study
May 4, 2023 - The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 no longer a global public health emergency.