Coronavis Study with IrsiCaixa and the ICS Metropolitan North Primary Health Care

The coexistence of various diseases and a compromised immune system makes older people more vulnerable to severe COVID-19. Being, therefore, a risk group, it is very important to dedicate efforts to analyze their level of protection against SARS-CoV-2, both after having passed the infection and after having been vaccinated. In this sense, the Glòria Soler Foundation supports a project of IrsiCaixa and the North Metropolitan Primary Care of the Catalan Institute of Health (ICS) that studies the degree of protection and the duration of the immune response in elderly people living in residences, after receiving the vaccine or passing the natural infection.

In addition, the study evaluates how the aging of the immune system affects the creation of an effective protective immune response. The results of this research will allow clinical decisions to be made, such as establishing a vaccination schedule based on the immune response.

The CoronAVIS project takes various residences for the elderly as a field of study, since it is here that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the most damage. To carry it out, 98 elderly people living in geriatric residences are monitored. The study consists of evaluating, over time, the quantity, quality and duration of their immune, humoral and cellular responses, generated from the Pfizer vaccine, in order to be able to compare them with the responses of 40 young people.

Finally, the study aims to associate the aging of the immune system with the ability of older people to respond to the vaccine. It is essential to control the immune response of this group and thus be able to adjust their vaccination schedule and guarantee the protection of this vulnerable population.

Project coordinated by Marta Massanella, principalinvestigator at IrsiCaixa.

UPDATE

The CoronAVI@S study, led by Dr. Marta Massanella from the IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute and promoted by the Glòria Soler Foundation, extends its trajectory to evaluate humoral and cellular responses after the 4th dose of the vaccine against SARS-CoV -2 in older people living in residences. The knowledge resulting from this study is key to being able to establish an adequate vaccination schedule that achieves maximum protection for this vulnerable group.