The Ontario government has announced that it’s moving forward with “groundbreaking” research projects to fight COVID-19, including clinical trials investigating vaccines and treatments.
Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Colleges and Universities Ross Romano made the announcement at a news conference today.
The government is funding its “first phase” of research to "test, detect and treat" the virus.
"I want the vaccine to be discovered right here in Ontario. I want us to be the global leaders in this fight and I know we will be."
The province said it is moving forward with funding for 15 “high-quality and promising proposals” to fight COVID-19, as well as the 22 clinical trials investigating vaccines and treatments.
The proposals were submitted in response to a recent call under Ontario’s $20 million COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund, which is looking for research related to vaccine development, rapid testing, drug trials and development and social sciences.
"We are all doing our part in the fight against this virus, we are all doing our part to slow down the spread, but slowing down the spread isn't enough, the key to beating this virus once and for all, the key to getting things back to normal is finding a vaccine, finding a cure,” Ford said.
"Until we find that vaccine the fight isn't over."