Study shows booster doses elicit strong antibody responses including against Omicron
While two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine can prevent serious illness in most cases, vaccine-induced immune responses decline naturally over time, increasing the risk of breakthrough infections.
Uptake of third vaccine doses in people with inflammatory bowel disease
In this short correspondence published in The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CITF-funded researchers Dr. Jessica Widdifield of the University of Toronto, Dr. Sasha Bernatsky of McGill University, and colleagues presented the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in Ontario patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
A systematic review and meta-analysis of seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Africa
This systemic review, released in a preprint that has not yet been peer reviewed, estimated that seroprevalence in Africa (due to infection or vaccination) rose from 3% in Q2 2020 to 65.1% in Q3 2021.
COVID-19 among Ontario elementary and secondary school education workers
Early in the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, virus transmission and the risk of infection among education workers was unclear. Upon studying this population in Ontario, CITF-funded researchers Drs. Brenda Coleman, Sharon Straus and Allison McGeer, from the University of Toronto, revealed that the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission was significantly higher between people living in the same household than between people in work or other social situations. They emphasize that practicing protective measures when a household member has been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 home would help reduce the risk of infection. Their results were recently published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
mRNA vaccines administered with a 16-week interval between doses elicit strong antibody responses
This is a summary, written by members of the CITF Secretariat, of: Vinh DC, Gouin JP, Cruz-Santiago D, Canac-Marquis M, Bernier S, Bobeuf F, Sengupta A, Brassard JP, Guerra A, Dziarmaga R, Perez A, Sun Y, Li Y, Roussel L, Langelier J, Ke D, Arnoldd C, Pelchat M, Langlois MA, Zhang X, Mazer BD. Real-world serologic responses to extended-interval and heterologous COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in [...]
Global seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2: Updated data from SeroTracker
A study carried out by SeroTracker (a CITF-funded project), in partnership with the World Health Organization, found global SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence (due to infection or vaccination or both) was 45.2% by end of June 2021.
Antibody responses to two-dose COVID-19 vaccination in people living with HIV
In a research study originally released as a preprint, and now published in npj vaccines, Drs. Zabrina Brumme and Mark Brockman, from the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Simon Fraser University, evaluated antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines in people living with HIV who were receiving suppressive antiretroviral therapy.
Neutralization capacity against SARS-COV-2 in blood donors
This study, published in Microbiology Spectrum and carried out by CITF-funded researchers Drs. Steven Drews and Sheila O’Brien of Canadian Blood Services, characterized the neutralization capacity and the breadth of protection against SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta).
SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence during the 1st and 2nd pandemic waves in Canada
In their CITF-funded research, Dr. Prabhat Jha and his team leading the Action to Beat Coronavirus (Ab-C) study estimated cumulative seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 during the first two viral waves.