As we continue to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, most of us are anxious to return to normal life, when we can hug our elderly parents or grandparents, safely gather in large groups or maybe even go to a concert or ball game. Many experts say that can't happen safely until a coronavirus vaccine is developed.

In this unprecedented time, researchers around the world are working toward that goal, but it has to be done safely and follow a careful scientific process.

In this episode of The Dose, Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, a vaccine expert at the the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto and a public health physician with more than 20 years of experience, joins host Dr. Brian Goldman to help explain how close we are to an effective vaccine against COVID-19, the barriers we must overcome to get there, and what we need to do in the meantime to stay as safe as possible and control the spread of coronavirus.

This interview was originally released on The Dose podcast on May 28, 2020.

Listen for free on CBC Listen or on your favourite podcast app — including Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

If you're new to podcasts entirely, start here.