Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Kristine Pederson has been answering questions about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Swift Current family physician is the Family Medical Division Lead for the Swift Current area and has been a part of the COVID planning committee for the city of Swift Current since the pandemic first began.

With the release of two vaccines and the promise of more to come, the province has seemingly entered a new stage of the pandemic. One that brings its own questions and concerns from some residents.

Questions about the vaccines' efficacy and safety are natural in light of the speed with which these vaccines have been developed in comparison to past vaccines, which can take years of trials, testing and retesting before becoming widely available to the public.

Dr. Pederson however does not believe there is a reason to worry.

"First of all, a lot of the groundwork regarding mRNA vaccines had already been done previously. This started when viruses like SARS or MERS were spreading. And then when those viruses kind of fizzled out the work slowed down but was quickly restarted when COVID-19 emerged."

As previously reported, much of the technology used to create the vaccines are the same essential technology that created other vaccines like those for Hepatitis B or Whooping Cough; building on decades of previous research.