Yesterday the Saskatchewan-based Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) revealed some positive preliminary data from their phase 1 COVID-19 vaccine trials.

According to the early data, the vaccine, currently called COVAC-2, has been demonstrated to be safe and 'well-tolerated by the trial participants. The most common reaction reported has been a headache. The most severe reaction noted has been a local, but mild, reaction at the injection site. Both are considered common reactions to immunizations.

"The data continues to demonstrate the safety of our subunit vaccine COVAC-2,” said Dr. Volker Gerdts, director and CEO of VIDO said in a release. “We are encouraged by the vaccine’s ability to generate a significant immune response, even at the lowest dose tested.”

Testing of the protein subunit vaccine is expected to continue over the summer. Participants are being recruited out of Halifax, and it was announced that a clinical trial site will be established in Saskatoon.

“We are excited to be partnering with VIDO to open this study site in Saskatoon,” said principal investigator Dr. Stephen Sanche. “We are thankful for those in Saskatchewan that have already reached out to express their interest and are looking for more volunteers to complete the study.”

VIDO has appeared in a number of headlines throughout the pandemic and has been the recipient of a flurry of funding that will see it become one of the country's top vaccine researchers and manufacturers in the coming decades.