More than $1 billion in new funding to support of a national medical research strategy to fight COVID-19 has been announced by the federal government. The money will be spent in areas that include vaccine development, the production of treatments, and tracking of the virus.
A COVID-19 Immunity Task Force will be formed to establish priorities and oversee country-wide blood test surveys that will tell experts how widely the virus has spread in Canada and provide reliable estimates of potential immunity and vulnerabilities in Canadian populations.
The federal government is also providing over $675,000 through the Stem Cell Network to support two new research projects and one clinical trial. The clinical trial will evaluate the safety of a potential cell therapy to treat acute respiratory distress associated with COVID-19.
