Against All Odds

With all the news about the novel coronavirus outbreak, it's easy to forget that just recently an outbreak of an even more deadly disease, Ebola, was sweeping through several countries in Africa. Now it's largely under control, thanks to the development of a vaccine led by Canadian scientists.

The story of how that vaccine was developed and finally approved for use is an indication of what it will take to get a virus for the coronavirus into the hands of health workers.

It is a feat that built on the work of scientists in multiple countries on three continents who toiled in obscurity for years. And it ensured that when future outbreaks strike, health workers have a crucial new tool at their disposal.

“This vaccine … from the beginning to the end — it should have never happened. On so many levels … against all odds, it made it,” said Kobinger, now director of the Infectious Disease Research Center at Laval University in Quebec. 

This is how it happened.