Among individuals who were pregnant in May 2022, nearly 80% had received two or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine before or during pregnancy, which is low compared to the general female population of reproductive age in Ontario (approximately 91%).
A CITF-funded study published in the Canadian Journal of Public Health, from Dr. Sharon Straus (University of Toronto) and her team, shows that wastewater surveillance was an effective technique for detecting an outbreak of COVID-19 in a Toronto homeless shelter before cases were otherwise identified. This process served as an early warning signal and allowed the timely preventive screening of residents.
In a paper published in BMJ Open, Drs. Jesse Jenkinson, Stephen Hwang (MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, University of Toronto) and colleagues outlined their study protocol for characterizing COVID-19 vaccine uptake and hesitancy among people experiencing homelessness in Toronto.
In a CITF-funded study published in BMJ and led by Dr. Deshayne Fell from the University of Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, researchers explored whether COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy had an effect on preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age at birth, and stillbirth.
A CITF-funded study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, from the Canadian National Vaccine Safety (CANVAS) Network, led by Drs. Julie Bettinger and Manish Sadarangani (University of British Columbia/British Columbia Children's Hospital Research Institute.
In a paper published in BMJ Open, Dr. Stephan Hwang (MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital and University of Toronto) and colleagues developed a study protocol documenting the CITF-funded Ku-gaa-gii pimitizi-win study (formerly known as the COVENANT study), which aims to estimate the prevalence and incidence of COVID-19 infection among people experiencing homelessness in Canada.
A manuscript from a CITF-funded study, published in Vaccines, CITF-funded researcher Dr. Stephen Hwang (MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael’s Hospital and University of Toronto) and colleagues found that vaccine uptake among people experiencing homelessness in Toronto was high, with 80.4% of the 736 study participants having received at least one dose by summer 2021, and 63.6% having received two or more doses.
Consistent with the ongoing transmission of the Omicron variant, infection-acquired seropositivity increased in the blood donor community gradually throughout May, from 36.71% at the end of April to 48.96% at the end of May, according to data from Canadian Blood Services.
Nearly a quarter (23.6%) of a sample of South Asians living primarily in Ontario’s Peel Region had evidence of prior infection with SARS-CoV-2 by the end of the pandemic’s third wave in July 2021, according to a CITF-funded study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Open.
Among people who were pregnant in Ontario in March 2022, 81.3% had received one or more doses before or during pregnancy.