This week’s #ArthritisAtHome features Dr. Janet Pope, Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Western Ontario and Division Head in Rheumatology at St. Joseph’s Health Centre.
In the history of medicine, rarely has a vaccine been developed in less than five years. Due to the unprecedented level of scientific collaboration and regulatory fast tracking, the target for creating a vaccine against the virus that causes COVID-19 is 12-18 months. To achieve that will be one of the most important scientific undertakings in generations.
On the 32nd episode of Arthritis at Home, we speak to Dr. Janet Pope about the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19. Dr. Janet Pope is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Western Ontario (UWO), Schulich School of Medicine, London, Ontario, Canada. She is the Division Head in Rheumatology at St. Joseph’s Health Centre. Her research includes epidemiological studies in scleroderma, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, including outcome measurements, clinical trials and disease manifestations. She is also involved in mentorship both for junior faculty in the Faculty of Medicine, Western and in Rheumatology throughout Canada.
Dr. Pope answers our questions about how vaccines work, the approval process and the challenges to manufacture and deploy the COVID-19 vaccine around the world.
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Go Deeper
To learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine development process, please see these reports:
Health Canada
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/covid19-clinical-trials.html
CBC
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/vaccine-clinical-trials-1.5580436