The COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force (VTF) was a Canadian public-private advisory board convened by the National Research Council Canada (NRC) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED).
Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, announced the membership of the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force on August 5, 2020. Bains also announced the membership of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Task Force.[1]
The Task Force considered a variety of proposals for COVID-19 vaccines submitted by their developers throughout 2020 through to 2023.[2]
The list of Task Force participants is provided in the table below.[3][4][5]
| Name | Position | Affiliation(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Joanne Langley | Co-chair | IWK Health Centre, Dalhousie University |
| Mark Lievonen | Co-chair | JML Advisory Services, Sanofi Pasteur |
| Alan Bernstein | Member | Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) |
| Robert Brunham | Member | British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), UBCCDC Vaccine Research Laboratory, University of British Columbia (UBC) |
| Michel de Wilde | Member | MDWConsultant, Sanofi Pasteur |
| Bartha Knoppers | Member | Centre of Genomics and Policy (CGP), McGill University |
| Gary Kobinger | Member | Infectious Disease Research Centre, Laval University |
| Christopher Procyshyn | Member | Vanrx Pharmasystems |
| Benjamin Rovinski | Member | Lumira Ventures |
| Lorne Tyrrell | Member | Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology, University of Alberta |
| Sylvia van den Hurk | Member | University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization – International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac) |
| André Veillette | Member | University of Montreal, Montreal Clinical Research Institute (IRCM) |
| Mona Nemer | Ex-officio member | Office of the Chief Science Advisor |
| Tina Namiesniowski | Ex-officio member | Public Health Agency of Canada |
| Simon Kennedy | Ex-officio member | Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada |
| Stephen Lucas | Ex-officio member | Health Canada |
| Iain Stewart | Ex-officio member (former) | Public Health Agency of Canada |
| Harpreet Kochar | Ex-officio member | Public Health Agency of Canada |
| Roger Scott-Douglas | Secretary | National Research Council Canada |
For each proposal, members of the task force identified their potential conflicts of interest.
Jagric, A., Roy, C., Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, & Public Services and Procurement Canada. (2020, August 5). Government of Canada announces major steps in treating and preventing COVID-19 through vaccines and therapies. Government of Canada. http://archive.today/2022.12.16-235932/https://www.canada.ca/en/innovation-science-economic-development/news/2020/08/government-of-canada-announces-major-steps-in-treating-and-preventing-covid-19-through-vaccines-and-therapies.html ↩︎
COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force Registry of Interests. (2023, March 27). Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. http://archive.today/2023.07.09-180656/https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/biomanufacturing/en/covid-19-vaccine-task-force/covid-19-vaccine-task-force-registry-interests ↩︎
National Research Council Canada. (2020, August 5). COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. Government of Canada. https://web.archive.org/web/20200808224638/https://nrc.canada.ca/en/corporate/covid-19-vaccine-task-force ↩︎
National Research Council Canada. (2020, September 22). COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. Government of Canada. http://archive.today/2020.12.01-031831/https://nrc.canada.ca/en/corporate/covid-19-vaccine-task-force ↩︎
National Research Council Canada. (2020, September 22). COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force. Government of Canada. http://archive.today/2022.02.07-080206/https://nrc.canada.ca/en/corporate/covid-19-vaccine-task-force ↩︎