Montreal, January 12, 2023 – The Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded $1.175 million from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) through the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) for a project to study hybrid immunity. In this research project, 500 participants will be recruited and assigned to groups, based on whether they have been vaccinated and whether they have had a prior infection. The goal is to study the impact of hybrid immunity on outcomes (e.g., whether people get infected with SARS-CoV-2, acquire asymptomatic infection, have mild sickness or have experienced severe COVID-19). Comprehensive molecular profiling of blood samples from each participant will be performed and clinical outcomes in each group will be compared.

“The BQC19 Steering Committee wishes to express its sincere gratitude to PHAC and CITF for this funding, to enrich the biobank datasets and enable crucial research,” said Madeleine Durand, MD, and Simon Rousseau, PhD, co-directors of the BQC19. “The BQC19 continues to thank all participants to the study for consenting to donate biological samples and medical data to enable research on COVID-19 and contribute significantly to the generation of new knowledge.”

“The BQC19 has been an important part of the research response to the pandemic and continues to help us answer crucial questions about COVID-19,” said Tim Evans, DPhil, MD, Executive Director of the CITF. “The results of this study will help us understand the duration of immune protection.”

About BQC19

The Biobanque québécoise de la COVID-19 (BQC19) is an initiative supported by the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé, Génome Québec, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force and, as of March 2022, the Quebec Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, to better understand the evolution and determinants of the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The mission of the BQC19 is to ensure that scientists have access to the biological materials and data necessary for their research efforts on COVID-19, to effectively address the public health challenges posed by the pandemic on a sound scientific basis and within an appropriate ethical and legal framework.

About the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

The Government of Canada established the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) in late April 2020 to catalyze, support, fund, and harmonize research on SARS-CoV-2 immunity for federal, provincial, and territorial decision makers in their efforts to protect Canadians and minimize the impact of COVID-19. The Task Force and its Secretariat work closely with a range of partners, including governments, public health agencies, institutions, health organizations, research teams, other task forces, engaging communities and stakeholders. To date, the CITF has supported nearly 120 studies across Canada that are generating critical insights on the levels, trends, nature, and duration of immunity arising from SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination.

For questions about BQC19: info@bqc19.ca

COVID-19 Immunity Task Force
Jean Philippe Rochette
media@covid19immunitytaskforce.ca
Cell: +1.514.432.4939

The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.