Media Releases Archives - Page 6 of 8 - COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

Two studies look at SARS-CoV-2 transmission and immunity among students and staff on university campuses

While many university classes across Canada are being held online, some programs require in-person learning and access to on- and off-campus research and learning facilities. The CITF is supporting two research studies looking at SARS-CoV-2 transmission and immunity on university campuses. Researchers at the University of Waterloo will investigate the immune response and how the virus affects people of different sexes, blood types, as well as age and ethnic groups. Researchers from Queen’s University will investigate students from the Faculty of Health Sciences to identify asymptomatic carriers and to evaluate antibody levels over a eight months to see whether they can be linked to immunity.

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-26T10:19:45-05:00February 11, 2021|Media Releases|

Two studies to determine the impact of COVID-19 vaccines in residents of long-term care facilities in BC and Alberta

Residents of long-term care facilities are at increased risk for serious outcomes of COVID-19. As vaccines are now being offered to this priority population, the Government of Canada is investing over $2 million through Canada's COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) for two studies in British Columbia (BC) and Alberta which will investigate how the [...]

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-26T10:25:38-05:00February 10, 2021|Media Releases|

How can we better protect paramedics from COVID-19? Researchers aim to find out

Study will also determine how many paramedics have had COVID-19 and will investigate how long antibodies last Paramedics are at high risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, but details of what puts them most at risk of exposure have not yet been studied. This is why the Government of Canada, through [...]

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-26T10:35:03-05:00February 2, 2021|Media Releases|

Latest findings reveal few Canadian adults have antibodies to SARS-Cov-2

Canadian Blood Services and the CITF’s collaborative nine-province SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study for October thru November suggests that 1.5 per cent of healthy Canadians had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2. The highest levels were recorded in Western Canada but mass national vaccination remains only route to achieving herd immunity.

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-25T18:49:48-05:00January 25, 2021|Media Releases, Seroprevalence studies|

Will one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine be enough?

OP-ED, CHARU KAUSHIC AND CATHERINE HANKINS, CONTRIBUTED TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL, JANUARY 7, 2021 Charu Kaushic is a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University. Catherine Hankins is a professor of public and population Health at McGill University. Both are members of the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. This year is starting on [...]

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-26T11:47:40-05:00January 8, 2021|Media Releases|

Canadian research teams find clues into SARS-CoV-2 immunity

Two research teams supported by Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) are reporting initial findings about immunity to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, which we are announcing just as vaccine roll out has begun. One of the teams, led by researchers at the University of Toronto, has had its initial work studying the [...]

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-25T17:26:29-05:00December 17, 2020|Media Releases|

Study finds few youths on the West Island and in the Plateau have had diagnosed cases of COVID-19, but mental health is an issue

Preliminary results from a study underway in Montreal suggest 41% of 1,000 children surveyed so far, largely based on participants from the West Island and the Plateau, have gone to get tested to see if they were infected at the time with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Of those, 99% tested negative. In this surveyed group, children from 10 households also had family members test positive for SARS-CoV-2, yet only one child from these households tested positive.

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-25T17:15:52-05:00December 14, 2020|Media Releases, Pediatrics|

The COVENANT Study: COVID-19 Cohort Study of People Experiencing Homelessness in Toronto

COVID-19 poses a serious health threat to people experiencing homelessness. Homelessness puts people at high risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, as shelters are an ideal environment for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. More than 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness every year. Recruitment starts soon for the COVENANT study, which will provide [...]

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-26T11:49:31-05:00December 10, 2020|Media Releases|

Study underway in BC to estimate how many young people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2

Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) is supporting a BC Children’s Hospital-led research project that aims to better grasp the role that children and young adults have played in the development of the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia (BC).

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-25T17:21:01-05:00December 1, 2020|Media Releases|

Two studies will help determine whether health care workers in Canada are at higher risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2

Preliminary, non-peer reviewed results suggest that in phase 1 of a study on healthcare workers led by Dr. Nicola Cherry at the University of Alberta, rates of infection were higher in physicians than in other HCWs and higher in Quebec physicians than among physicians in Alberta.

Caroline Phaneuf2021-02-25T17:12:12-05:00November 26, 2020|Healthcare workers, Media Releases|