Immunity Task Force Members and Secretariat in the World Literature
Law, J.C., Koh, W.H., Budylowski, P., Lin, J., Yue, F., Abe, K.T., Rathod, B., Girard, M., Li, Z., Rini, J.M., Mubareka, S., McGeer, A., Chan, A.K., Gingras, A., Watts, T.H., Ostrowski, M.A.. (2020) Systematic Examination of Antigen-Specific Recall T Cell Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Versus Influenza Virus Reveals a Distinct Inflammatory Profile. J Immunol, DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2001067.
Ismail, S. J., Zhao, L., Tunis, M. C., Deeks, S. L., Quach, C. (2020). Key Populations for Early COVID-19 Immunization: Preliminary Guidance for Policy. CMAJ, 192(48), E1620-E1632.
Cheng, M.P., Yansouni, C.P., Basta, N.E., Desjardins, M., Kanjilal, S., Paquette, K., Caya, C., Semret, M., Quach, C., Libman, M., Mazzola, L., Sacks, J.A., Dittrich, S., Papenburg, J. (2020) Serodiagnostics for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Related Coronavirus 2. Ann Intern Med, DOI: 10.7326/M20-2854.
Arora RK, Joseph A, Van Wyk J, Rocco S, Atmaja A, May E, Yan T, Bobrovitz N, Chevrier J, Cheng MP, Williamson T. (2020) SeroTracker: a Global SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Dashboard. Lancet Infect Dis, DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(20)30631-9
Beaudoin-Bussières, G., Laumaea, A., Anand, S.P., Prévost, J., Gasser, R., Goyette, G., Medjahed, H., Perreault, J., Tremblay, T., Lewin, A., Gokool, L., Morrisseau, C., Bégin, P., Tremblay, C., Martel-Laferrière, V., Kaufmann, D., Richard, J., Bazin, R., Finzi, A.. (2020) Decline of Humoral Responses against SARS-CoV-2 Spike in Convalescent Individuals. mBio, September/October 2020 Volume 11 Issue 5.
Van Caeseele, P., Bailey, D., Forgie, S.E., Dingle, T.C., Krajden, M. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) serology: implications for clinical practice, laboratory medicine and public health. CMAJ, Aug 2020, 192 (34) E973-E979; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.201588
Anderson, G., Frank, J. W., Naylor, C. D., Wodchis, W., & Feng, P. (2020). Using socioeconomics to counter health disparities arising from the covid-19 pandemic. BMJ, m2149. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m2149
Cheng, M. P., Papenburg, J., Desjardins, M., Kanjilal, S., Quach, C., Libman, M., Dittrich, S., & Yansouni, C. P. (2020). Diagnostic Testing for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome–Related Coronavirus 2. Annals of Internal Medicine, 172(11), 726–734. https://doi.org/10.7326/m20-1301
TASK FORCE RESEARCH results
These are estimates of seroprevalence from Canadian Blood Services for the months of October and November 2020. The table below presents the estimated seroprevalence rates for Canada and the provinces served by CBS for the periods May-July, October, and November 2020. In Quebec, the serosurvey by Héma-Québec sampled once in 2020 during the first wave.
Table 1: Rate of antibody detection in Blood Donors in Canada
| Values % (95% confidence Interval) | Values % (95% confidence Interval) | Values % (95% confidence Interval) | |
| Dates | May-July | October | November |
| Canada | 0.70% (0.63-0.77) | 0.88% (0.73-1.04) | 1.51% (1.31-1.71) |
| British Columbia | 0.56% (0.41-0.70) | 0.86% (0.50-1.23) | 1.51% (1.04-1.97) |
| Alberta | 0.48% (0.33-0.62) | 0.76% (0.38-1.14) | 1.79% (1.24-2.34) |
| Saskatchewan | 0.53% (0.23-0.83) | 0.17% (0.00-0.59) | 4.17% (2.57-5.77) |
| Manitoba | 0.59% (0.30-0.88) | 2.96% (1.70-4.23) | 8.56% (6.51-10.62) |
| Ontario | 0.88% (0.78-0.99) | 0.87% (0.65-1.08) | 0.77% (0.56-0.97) |
| Quebec* | 1.06% (0.82-1.30) | ||
| New Brunswick | 0.23% (0.00-0.49) | 0.17% (0.00-0.66) | 0.49% (0.00-1.20) |
| Nova Scotia | 0.69% (0.33-1.05) | 0.98% (0.11-1.85) | 0.19% (0.00-0.65) |
| Prince Edward Island | 0.04% (0.00-0.42) | 0% | 0% |
| Newfoundland | 0.44% (0.04-0.84) | 0.06% (0.00-0.52) | 0.95% (0.00-2.09) |
| Link to CBS report for May-July 2020 | Link to CBS report for October 2020 | Link to CBS report for November 2020 |
Task Force research funded to date
| Primary Investigator/Researcher | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last name | First name | Institution | Project Title |
| Sadarangani | Manish | University of British Columbia | SPRING Study: SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in children and young adults in British Columbia |
| Statistics Canada | The Canadian COVID-19 Antibody and Health Survey | ||
| Awadalla | Philip | Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow’s Health (CanPath) | National study looking at seroprevalence of COVID-19 antibodies among high-risk populations |
| Zinzser | Kate | Université de Montréal and Centre for Public Health Research | EnCORE Study: How many children and teens in Montreal have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 |
| Raina | Parminder | Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) | Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA): Platform for studying the epidemiology of the COVID-19 pandemic in aging populations (CLSA-COVID-19 Study) |
| Money | Deborah | University of British Columbia | Canadian Population Serological Survey Utilizing Antenatal Serum Samples |
| Awadalla | Philip | Ontario Institute for Cancer Research | Surveilling Prospective Population cOhorts for COVID19 pRevalence and ouTcomes in Canada (SUPPORT-Canada) |
| Azad | Meghan | University of Manitoba | Rapid research in the CHILD Cohort to inform Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic: investigating the prevalence and predictors of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the health and psychosocial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian families |
| Cherry | Nicola | University of Alberta | The impact of COVID-19 on the health of physicians, nurses and other healthcare workers: an interprovincial cohort study |
| Cheung | Angela | University Health Network (Toronto) | Canadian COVID-19 Prospective Cohort Study (CanCOV) |
| Drabovich | Andrei | University of Alberta | Rational design and standardization of serology diagnostics using immunoaffinity-targeted proteomics assays |
| Grace | Daniel | University of Toronto | Engage-COVID-19: A mixed methods study of biomedical, behavioural, and psychosocial aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men in Canada |
| Grant | Michael | Memorial Universty of Newfoundland | Characterization of Cellular and Humoral Immunity Against SARS-CoV-2 |
| Hwang | Stephen | Unity Health Toronto | The COVENANT Study: COVID-19 Cohort Study of People Experiencing Homelessness in Toronto |
| Jarvi | Keith | Sinai Health System (Toronto) | Development of high throughput, inexpensive and scalable testing to detect SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using home blood collection kits and a fully automated ELISA antibody assay |
| Kaufmann | Daniel | Centre hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal (CHUM) | Early immune predictors of sustained SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses after COVID-19 disease |
| Lachowsky | Nathan | University of Victoria | The COVID-19 Pandemic Among Sexual and Gender Marginalized Populations in Canada: Physical Distancing Impacts, SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence, and Health and Wellness Needs |
| Langlois | Marc-André | University of Ottawa | Analysis of Antibody Neutralization Efficiency and Cellular Immunity in SARS-CoV-2-Positive Individuals Identified in At-Risk Individuals |
| Little | Dustin | Ryerson University | A low-cost, portable, and decentralized microfluidic device for detecting SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies |
| Madathil | Sreenath Arekunnath | McGill University | COVID-19 incidence rates among Canadian dentists as they return to work: a cohort study |
| Maguire | Jonathon | Unity Health Toronto | TARGet Kids! COVID-19 Study of Children and Families: Safe Return to School, Work, and Play |
| McGeer | Alison | Sinai Health System (Toronto) | Are healthcare workers at higher risk of COVID-19 than other working adults? |
| Nazy | Ishac | McMaster University | Long-term protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 virus in COVID-19 patients |
| O’Connor | Deborah | Sinai Health System (Toronto) / University of Toronto | Can COVID-19 and maternal antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 be transmitted through human milk? Implications for breastfeeding and human milk banking |
| Quach-Thanh | Caroline | Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine | REinfection in COVid-19 Estimation of Risk (RECOVER) |
| Troyer | Ryan | University of Western Ontario | Simple assay to assess antibody-dependent enhancement of SARS-CoV-2 |
| Watts | Tania | University of Toronto | Towards a comprehensive understanding of adaptive immunity to SARS-CoV-2 |
| Wilson | Kumanan | Bruyère Research Institute | Immunity Passports for COVID-19: Scientific, Ethical, Policy and Design Implications |
| Canadian Blood Services | Collaborative nine-province SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study based on 37,373 blood samples from blood donor centres across Canada (except Quebec and the Territories) | ||
