In their latest report, Canadian Blood Services reveals that 97% of blood donors sampled in September had evidence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 acquired through immunization with at least one vaccine dose and/or a past infection. This number is largely driven by vaccination as infection-acquired seroprevalence remained low in September - at 4.4% - despite [...]
96% of Canadian blood donors have evidence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, primarily due to vaccination, a rate that has increased from 91% in June and 95% in July. This according to Canadian Blood Services’ 13th seroprevalence report, covering data from August 2021. Nonetheless, targeted efforts to alleviate infection burden and promote vaccine uptake are still [...]
The latest results from the Canadian Blood Services' monthly serosurvey indicate that 95% of blood donors sampled in July 2021 had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, acquired predominantly through vaccination. Not only did vaccine-induced seroprevalence increase among all sociodemographic groups and across all geographic regions, but infection-acquired seroprevalence dropped compared to June 2021. Donors identifying as [...]
In a recent article published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, CITF-funded researcher Dr. Prabhat Jha and his Action to beat Coronavirus (Ab-C Study) team estimated 9% of Canadians would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine and the authors identified key populations to work with to improve vaccine acceptance. Between January and March 2021, the [...]
In a recently published paper in Emerging Infectious Diseases, CITF-funded researchers, Dr. Agatha Jassem, Dr. Marc Romney, Dr. Mel Krajden and colleagues sought to summarize observations regarding variants of concern (VOCs) in British Columbia over a 16-week period from January to April 2021. On average, for the entire study period, 31.9% of positive tests [...]
Commonly called vaccine passports, immunization records or documents indicating vaccination status will be important as certain parts of the world begin to reopen. Many Canadians see vaccine passports or vaccine certificates as a necessary step to re-enter public spaces and events; others are concerned that the need to disclose vaccine information may affect their [...]
Canada’s most representative study to date investigating how many Canadians have antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19, reveals a mere 2.6% of Canadians tested between November 2020 and April 2021 had developed antibodies resulting from a past infection. Another 1% of Canadians had antibodies due to vaccination, reflecting the fact that vaccination was not widely available during the survey period. This brings the total percentage of Canadians with some form of immunity before the third wave to 3.6%. These data come from Statistics Canada’s Canadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey (CCAHS), done in partnership with Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF), the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Health Canada.
SeroTracker, a Canadian research group, has published the largest study to date on the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the journal PLOS One. The study examined antibody survey data, which were published from January to December 2020, from 9.3 million people in 74 countries and found that the number of people who had a SARS-COV-2 infection, although widely variable globally, remained fairly low in the general population.
Blood donation organizations to provide important assessment of how long immunity lasts NEWS RELEASE MONTREAL, May 27, 2021 — Results from the latest Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec studies, which together cover all 10 provinces, confirm that from coast-to-coast, Canada’s overall levels of seroprevalence due to SARS-CoV-2 infection remained very low earlier [...]