OTTAWA -- The government is pumping more money into a global effort to ensure access to vaccinations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the organizations receiving the funds will help distribute a vaccine for COVID-19, once it's available.

"That will keep us all safer. Because in our interconnected world, to end this pandemic for good in Canada, we have to end it everywhere," Trudeau said, speaking from the front steps of Rideau Cottage on Tuesday.

In a press release sent out Tuesday, International Development Minister Karina Gould explained that the government is contributing $600 million to GAVI, a vaccine alliance that improves vaccine access for vulnerable children around the world.

She also said the feds will be contributing over $45 million annually for four years to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative's "end-game strategy."

"COVID-19 has demonstrated that viruses do not know borders. Our health here in Canada depends on the health of everyone, everywhere," Gould said in the statement.

On its own website, GAVI expressed its thanks for the contribution, adding that these funds will help ensure the poorest and most vulnerable children will be protected against disease.

However, a vaccine for COVID-19 remains out of reach — for now.

Scientists are rushing to study the disease in the hopes of quelling the spread of the deadly virus. Among these efforts is one promising vaccine candidate, Ad5-nCoV, which was developed by the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology and CanSino Biologics. It was approved for human trials in March and its effectiveness is currently being evaluated.

Canadian researchers are collaborating with the Chinese research team to "pave the way for future clinical trials in Canada," according to a Tuesday press release from the National Research Council of Canada.

In the meantime, Canadian public health officials are fighting the virus with physical distancing measures, which they say will not be lifted until a set of guidelines is met.

With files from CTV's Brooklyn Neustaeter