Saskatoon team to study how well COVID-19 vaccines, infection protect vulnerable people

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SASKATOON — A Saskatoon researcher will investigate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccination or previous infection in older frail people and HIV-positive people in preventing infection with variants of concern.

“At the end of this study, we hope to be able to determine what the next viral variants will be before they emerge. This could allow us to have our vaccines one step ahead of the virus,” Alyson Kelvin, a scientist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) said in a news release.

Immunosuppressed people and those of older ages typically have less effective vaccine responses.

The information learned in the study could be used to screen for new variants.

This project, which will cost close to half a million dollars, is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research Emerging COVID-19 Research Gaps and Priorities Fund.