COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy in Ontario – Report #2
In a study supported by the Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG) and the CITF, Dr. Deshayne Fell and her team at the Better Outcomes Registry & Network (BORN) in Ontario are evaluating province-wide data on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnant individuals. In their second report, which includes results up to June 30, 2021, they found that 28% of the pregnant population in Ontario received at least one dose of a [...]
Monitoring COVID-19 immunity in long-term care via sewage
Published recently in BMJ Open, researchers Drs. Xiao-Li Pang, Bonita Lee and Christopher Sikora outline their CITF-funded study protocol for monitoring COVID-19 immunity using two very different channels: sewage and blood.
Study results show subtle differences in antibody response between Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for residents of long-term care
This CITF-funded research, which is in pre-print, was led by Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) senior scientists Dr. Anne-Claude Gingras and Dr. Allison McGeer and reveals that long-term care (LTC) residents in Ontario who received the Pfizer vaccine had lower antibody responses to Alpha, Beta and Gamma than those vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine. The Delta variant was not assessed.
COVID-19 vaccines generate detectable specific antibodies in saliva
It is known that existing COVID-19 vaccines trigger the production of neutralizing antibodies in blood. However, since SARS-CoV-2 first enters the body via the upper respiratory tract, if antibodies were located in this area, they could potentially start fighting the virus immediately.
Antibody production following immunization by mRNA vaccines in Ontario long-term care residents and staff
Long-term care residents and staff immunized with the Moderna vaccine elicited stronger total and neutralizing antibody responses compared to those vaccinated with Pfizer-BioNTech, according to new research.
A finger prick to test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
A team of Vancouver investigators, led by Dr. Agatha Jassem of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) and partially funded by the CITF, assessed SARS-CoV-2 serological testing using two methods: finger pricking (dried blood spot or DBS) and traditional venipuncture (blood draw with a needle).
Poorer neighbourhoods and racialized communities continue to lag behind in vaccine coverage: latest Canadian Blood Services results
The gap between the rates of COVID-19 infection and vaccination among racialized and non-racialized Canadians continues to exist, as does the gap between Canadians from lower- and higher-income neighbourhoods. The CITF-funded Canadian Blood Services Serosurveillance Study has released its latest report for the month of May 2021. While the latest data show that the proportion of blood donors with antibodies acquired through vaccination increased [...]
Tracking health events after vaccination: latest results from CANVAS-COVID
Are you among the over 1 million Canadians asked to complete a survey after receiving the first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine?
Equity and design are key to successful vaccine passport programs in Canada
Commonly called vaccine passports, immunization records or documents indicating vaccination status will be important as certain parts of the world begin to reopen.