The COVID-19 Immunity Task Force’s mandate
On April 23, 2020, the Government of Canada launched the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF). The Task Force’s mandate is to catalyze, support, fund and harmonize knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 immunity for federal, provincial, and territorial decision-makers in their efforts to protect Canadians and minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Priority Areas of Research
Immune Science
Advancing our understanding of immunity: Is immunity a given once someone has had COVID-19? How long does it last? Are there factors that make immunity wane faster?
Seroprevalence Studies
Collecting serologic data: How many Canadians have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, suggesting they’ve had COVID-19? Are some populations more likely to get SARS-CoV-2 and how could we better protect them?
Immune Testing
Fine-tuning methods for accurate serologic testing: Which tests can detect the new variants? Are there antibody tests that can be developed giving us results in minutes?
Vaccine Surveillance
Supporting research partners from across Canada in a new collaboration that will study vaccine effectiveness and safety in the population at large and in high-priority groups.
Boosters
Understanding when and if the general population and sub-groups such as long-term care residents, racialized communities or Indigenous Peoples need booster shots.
Pediatric Vaccination
Researching the safety, effectiveness and immunogenicity of vaccines in children under 12 to help inform the roll out of vaccines.
Immunity Modelling
Modelling trends in the overall immunity across Canada arising from infection and vaccination.
CITF Monthly Review
June 2022 issue
In this month’s issue, we’d like to highlight:
- A research synthesis on hybrid immunity, which underscores that even those who have been infected by SARS-CoV-2 need to have all their recommended COVID-19 vaccinations, found on pages 12-13.
- How the Omicron tsunami swept across Canada and its impacts, found on pages 2-3, 4, and 16.
- CITF-funded research revealing that a significant proportion of those who have been infected do not produce antibodies, found on page 5.
- Results from CITF-affiliated experts on severe COVID in children and the effectiveness of a fourth vaccine dose among long-term care facility residents, found on pages 14-15.
CITF-funded Research Results
Whole genome analysis technique to speed up SARS-CoV-2 sequencing
A recent CITF-funded study published in the Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine by Drs. Marco Marra, Steven Jones and Marc Romney (University of British Columbia) demonstrates an optimized workflow for high-throughput whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 samples.
Research finds that frailty is a critical factor in mortality from COVID-19
A recent CITF-funded study published in the Canadian Geriatrics Journal concluded that frailty is a critical clinical factor in predicting outcomes of COVID-19 among a group of COVID-19 patients with a median age of 71.
Using an in vivo model to ascertain how COVID-19 convalescent plasma therapy may be more effective to treat patients
Convalescent plasma therapy (CPT), which entails using plasma containing anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies taken from recovered individuals, has achieved mixed results in treating aged or immunosuppressed individuals suffering from severe COVID-19.
Latest News
SeroTracker expands its SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance hub
CITF-funded SeroTracker has added to its knowledge hub that tracks findings from SARS-CoV-2 serosurveillance efforts worldwide and in Canada. Peruse the maps and graphs and see how many people in this country (by province & territory as well) and around the world are estimated to have been infected with or vaccinated against this coronavirus to date (based on published research).
Explore SeroTracker
What is serosurveillance and why is it important?
Serosurveillance is a common way of seeing how many people have been previously infected with a certain infectious agent, in this case SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. Blood samples from hundreds of thousands of Canadians are currently being tested to check levels of antibodies, which suggest a past infection. Serosurveillance can also help determine priority groups for vaccination and will be used to monitor the effectiveness of vaccines.
What does “vaccine surveillance” mean?
Vaccine surveillance includes studies of vaccine effectiveness (how good vaccines are at preventing severe disease, new infections, and transmission) and safety (identifying and quantifying the vaccine adverse effects). Although vaccines go through numerous trials before being approved for use, it is crucial to monitor their effectiveness and safety within a broader population and with various population groups (children, pregnant women, elderly, etc.).
See all FAQs
What is serosurveillance and why is it important?
Serosurveillance is a common way of seeing how many people have been previously infected with a certain infectious agent, in this case SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19. Blood samples from hundreds of thousands of Canadians are currently being tested to check levels of antibodies, which suggest a past infection. Serosurveillance can also help determine priority groups for vaccination and will be used to monitor the effectiveness of vaccines.
What does “vaccine surveillance” mean?
Vaccine surveillance includes studies of vaccine effectiveness (how good vaccines are at preventing severe disease, new infections, and transmission) and safety (identifying and quantifying the vaccine adverse effects). Although vaccines go through numerous trials before being approved for use, it is crucial to monitor their effectiveness and safety within a broader population and with various population groups (children, pregnant women, elderly, etc.).
See all FAQs
