COVID-19 Immunity Task Force

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The COVID-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) is one of the Government of Canada's early efforts to track the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. [1] An external, dedicated secretariat was established in order to maximize the efficiency of the CITF's work. [2]

Contents

Purpose

The CITF was to use a serology "to survey representative samples of the population for the presence of antibodies to the virus". [3] Trudeau's press release on 23 April 2020, on the initiation of the CCITF listed several goals it would help to achieve notably that it would: [2]

establish priorities and oversee the coordination of a series of country-wide blood test surveys that will tell us how widely the virus has spread in Canada and provide reliable estimates of potential immunity and vulnerabilities in Canadian populations.

A Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG) was also established within the CITF to monitor the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines made available in Canada. [4]

Task Force membership

The CITF Board is composed of doctors, infectious disease experts, and policy makers. [1] [5]

Leadership Group

Executive Committee
Government of Canada representatives
Members

The CCITF leadership group expanded on 2 May 2020. [6] Its additional members as of March 2022 are:

Provincial & Territorial representatives

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References

  1. 1 2 Zimonjic, Peter; Kapelos, Vassy (23 April 2020). "WHO set pandemic response back by 2-3 weeks, says doctor on new federal task force". CBC News . Archived from the original on 2020-04-24.
  2. 1 2 "Prime Minister announces new support for COVID-19 medical research and vaccine development". Office of the Prime Minister of Canada . 23 April 2020. Archived from the original on 30 April 2020.
  3. "Canada launches serological testing initiative to help manage COVID-19". McGill University. 23 April 2020. Archived from the original on 1 May 2020.
  4. "Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG)". COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  5. Labonne, Simon. "Leadership Group". COVID-19 Immunity Task Force. Archived from the original on 2022-03-23. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  6. Naylor, David (May 2, 2020). "@CDavidNaylor on X: '🇨🇦 COVID-19 Immunity Task Force leadership group. Privileged to work with these talented & dedicated 🇨🇦 experts. See list below.'". X . Archived from the original on May 8, 2020.