With more than a million participants enrolled in its study, the Canadian National Vaccine Safety Network (CANVAS-COVID) shows that more than 90% of those who are vaccinated do not experience any side effects other than temporary and localized pain at the injection site.
A team that included CITF-funded researcher Dr. Jeffrey Kwong from ICES and Public Health Ontario has found that 70% of cases of myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the sac holding the heart) following COVID-19 vaccination in Ontario occurred after the second dose.
The CANVAS-COVID study, funded by the CITF/Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG), has collected self-reported information on health events following vaccination in more than one million Canadians so far.
Patients with chronic kidney disease, including those on dialysis, have been prioritized for vaccination due to increased risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes such as hospitalization and death.
A national survey has found that at the start of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, most Canadians planned to get vaccinated, but that intentions were lower among certain demographic groups, including residents of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, individuals without a university degree, and racialized Canadians.
Are you among the over 1 million Canadians asked to complete a survey after receiving the first or second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine?
An Ontario long-term care home (LTC) suffered a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak attributed to the Gamma variant. Researchers from a CITF-funded study led by Dr. Allison McGeer have published results in Clinical Infectious Diseases revealing that among the residents and staff considered to be part of the outbreak, 77% and 45% respectively, were fully vaccinated.
Pregnant individuals in Ontario have only been designated a priority population for COVID-19 vaccination since late April 2021.
Due to shortages in vaccine supply and the attempt to maximize the number of people receiving their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, Canadian provinces have recommended that second doses be delayed by up to 16 weeks.
The Government of Canada, through its COVID-19 Immunity Task Force and Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group is supporting a new pan-Canadian study that will investigate the immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine within the South Asian community.