¶ COVID-19 Immunity Task Force
.png)
The COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) is a Canadian initiative intended to organize resources to study natural and vaccine-induced immunity to SARS-CoV-2.
The group is jointly funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).[1]
¶ History
CITF was launched in April 2020 by the Government of Canada.[2] On July 13, 2021, the government announced an additional $800,000 in funding through CITF and its Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG) "to study best approaches to possible adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination". The funds were paid to the Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN).[3]
¶ Organization
The task force is made up of several task forces and working groups, including the Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG).[4]
The secretariat for the task force is housed at the McGill School of Population and Global Health.[2:1]
¶ Team
| Name | Position | Affiliation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Naylor | Co-chair | University of Toronto | - |
| Catherine Hawkins | Co-chair | McGill University | - |
| Timothy Evans | Executive Director | McGill University | - |
| Heather Hannah | Executive Committee | - | Northwest Territories |
| Mona Nemer | Executive Committee, Government of Canada representative | Office of the Chief Science Advisor | - |
| Howard Njoo | Executive Committee | Public Health Agency of Canada | Deputy Chief Public Health Officer and Interim Vice-President, Infectious Disease Programs Branch |
| Gina Ogilvie | Executive Committee, Leadership Team | University of British Columbia, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), Women's Health Research Institute | - |
| Jutta Preiksaitis | Executive Committee, Leadership Group | University of Alberta | - |
| Gail Tomblin Murphy | Executive Committee, Leadership Group | Nova Scotia Health Authority | - |
| Paul van Caeseele | Executive Committee, Leadership Group | Cadham Provincial Laboratory, Manitoba Health, University of Manitoba | - |
| Theresa Tam | Government of Canada representative | Public Health Agency of Canada | - |
| Stephen Lucas | Government of Canada representative | Health Canada | - |
| Vivek Goel | Leadership Group | University of Waterloo | - |
| Philippe Gros | Leadership Group | McGill University | - |
| Scott Halperin | Leadership Group | Dalhousie University, Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) | - |
| Charu Kaushic | Leadership Group | Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), McMaster University, Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness (GloPID-R) | - |
| James Kellner | Leadership Group | University of Calgary, Alberta Health Services (AHS) | - |
| Susan Kirkland | Leadership Group | Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia Health Authority | - |
| Gary Kobinger | Leadership Group | Laval University | - |
| Mel Krajden | Leadership Group | University of British Columbia (UBC), British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) | - |
| Christie Lutsiak | Leadership Group | Alberta Ministry of Health | - |
| Richard Massé | Leadership Group | Government of Quebec | - |
| Allison McGeer | Leadership Group | University of Toronto | - |
| Deborah Money | Leadership Group | University of British Columbia (UBC), Women's Health Research Institute | - |
| Shelly Bolotin | Provincial Representative | Public Health Ontario (PHO) | Ontario |
| Marguerite Cameron | Provincial Representative | Prince Edward Island Department of Health and Wellness | Prince Edward Island (PEI) |
| Catherine Elliot | Territorial Representative | Government of Yukon | Yukon |
| Richard Garceau | Provincial Representative | Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre | New Brunswick |
| Jessica Minion | Provincial Representative | Saskatchewan Health Authority | Saskatchewan |
| Michael Patterson | Territorial Representative | Government of Nunavut | Nunavut |
| Nathan Stall | Researcher | Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, CanCOVID, Sinai Health System, Ontario Liberal Party | Received funding from the Task Force for geriatric research.[5] |
¶ Activities
As of March 23, 2022, the CITF was supporting 112 COVID-19 studies across Canada.[6]
¶ COVERED study
COVERED is a COVID-19 vaccine registry for pregnant and breastfeeding women across Canada.[7]
It is being run at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in partnership with Canadian Vaccine Safety Network (CANVAS), the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Women's Health Research Institute.[8] The lead researcher is Deborah Money.
An additional “Immune-Substudy” was launched at the British Columbia Women's Hospital.[9]
¶ Ontario study
This second study links information collected from BORN Ontario, which collects data from every baby born in Ontario, with the province’s vaccination registry from the Ontario Ministry of Health (COVaxON). Deshayne Fell is the lead researcher.
¶ Publications
CITF Monthly Review
- December 2021
- "The rationale for vaccinating 5-11-year-old children"
- "Not all chronic diseases are the same: Antibody responses in people with HIV & chronic kidney disease"
- "The science behind recommending third vaccine doses for older Canadians"
¶ External links
Nelson, M. (2020, September 10). Canada’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force partners with CIHR to support 22 studies investigating COVID-19. COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. http://archive.today/2022.05.18-193551/https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/canadas-covid-19-immunity-task-force-partners-with-cihr-to-support-22-studies-investigating-covid-19-2/ ↩︎
COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. McGill University School of Population and Global Health. Retrieved May 18, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.05.18-193120/https://www.mcgill.ca/spgh/about-us/covid-19-immunity-task-force ↩︎ ↩︎
Phaneuf, C. (2021, July 13). Canadian researchers to study best approaches to possible adverse events following COVID-19 vaccination. COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. https://web.archive.org/web/20210713152435/https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/canadian-researchers-to-study-best-approaches-to-possible-adverse-events-following-covid-19-vaccination/ ↩︎
Vaccine surveillance Reference group (VSRG). COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. Retrieved April 28, 2021, from http://archive.today/2021.04.28-205527/https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/vaccine-surveillance-reference-group-vsrg/ ↩︎
Stall, N. M. (2021, January 29). Declaration of Interest. Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. https://web.archive.org/web/20210425034556/https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Declaration-of-Interest_Science-Table_Nathan-Stall-2.pdf ↩︎
Evans, T. (2022, March 23). The importance of pediatric vaccination. COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. https://web.archive.org/web/20220403062829/https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/CITF_CanCOVID_6_Pediatric-vaccination_2022_EN_FINAL-2.pdf ↩︎
Burns, R., Logothetis, P., & Rolfsen, E. (2021, May 19). Canadian researchers studying effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy. COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. http://archive.today/2022.06.21-004432/https://www.covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/canadian-researchers-studying-effectiveness-and-safety-of-covid-19-vaccines-during-pregnancy/ ↩︎
Home | Canadian COVID-19 Vaccine Registry for Pregnant and Lactating Individuals. University of British Columbia. Retrieved June 20, 2022, from http://archive.today/2021.10.15-025256/https://covered.med.ubc.ca/ ↩︎
Immune Sub-Study | Canadian COVID-19 Vaccine Registry for Pregnant and Lactating Individuals. University of British Columbia. Retrieved June 21, 2022, from http://archive.today/2022.06.21-005256/https://covered.med.ubc.ca/immune-sub-study/ ↩︎