A novel zoonotic coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) mid-December2019 and was named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Thevirus rapidly spread to the rest of the world, including Europe and explicitly affectsthe respiratory system, generating Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).Employees of the university hospital of Brussels (UZ Brussel) presenting symptomssuggestive of COVID-19 are offered to be tested with real-time PCR on nasopharyngealswabs. As asymptomatic infections have been described and as the PCR can be negative whentaken late after onset of symptoms, serologic tests can be performed. The SARS-CoV 2003epidemic demonstrated that serological assays were a useful diagnostic tool of non-acuteinfections. Although it is still uncertain whether convalescing patients have a risk ofre-infection, recent data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 antibodies could protect at least forsome time from subsequent viral exposures.As the COVID-19 pandemic had devastating medical, economic and social consequences, safeand effective prophylactic vaccines were urgently needed. And thus several candidatevaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been developed. The vaccination campaign of the healthcare workers of the UZ Brussel started mid January 2021. The first available vaccine wasthe BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine. Early March 2021, in order to accelerate the vaccinationof the UZ Brussel employees, the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD12222) (Oxford, AstaZeneca)vaccination program was implemented in parallel with the BNT162b2 vaccination program Inthe COVEMUZ-2 study the investigators have already started to document the SARS-CoV-2seroprevalence and seroconversion among vaccinated employees (using BNT162b2) in the UZBrussels.In this study, the investigators aim to prospectively document the SARS-CoV-2seroprevalence and seroconversion among vaccinated employees (using ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) ofthe UZ Brussel, at three different time points, namely 6 weeks (+/- 2 weeks; T1), 6months (+/- 1 month; T2) and 12 months (+/- 1 month; T3) after the second vaccination.
A novel zoonotic coronavirus was discovered in Wuhan (Hubei Province, China) mid-December
2019 and was named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The
virus rapidly spread to the rest of the world, including Europe and explicitly affects
the respiratory system, generating Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Employees of the university hospital of Brussels (UZ Brussel) presenting symptoms
suggestive of COVID-19 are offered to be tested with real-time PCR on nasopharyngeal
swabs. As asymptomatic infections have been described and as the PCR can be negative when
taken late after onset of symptoms, serologic tests can be performed. The SARS-CoV 2003
epidemic demonstrated that serological assays were a useful diagnostic tool of non-acute
infections. Although it is still uncertain whether convalescing patients have a risk of
re-infection, recent data suggest that SARS-CoV-2 antibodies could protect at least for
some time from subsequent viral exposures.
As the COVID-19 pandemic had devastating medical, economic and social consequences, safe
and effective prophylactic vaccines were urgently needed. And thus several candidate
vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been developed. The vaccination campaign of the health
care workers of the UZ Brussel started mid January 2021. The first available vaccine was
the BNT162b2 (Pfizer) vaccine. Early March 2021, in order to accelerate the vaccination
of the UZ Brussel employees, the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD12222) (Oxford, AstaZeneca)
vaccination program was implemented in parallel with the BNT162b2 vaccination program In
the COVEMUZ-2 study the investigators have already started to document the SARS-CoV-2
seroprevalence and seroconversion among vaccinated employees (using BNT162b2) in the UZ
Brussels.
In this study, the investigators aim to prospectively document the SARS-CoV-2
seroprevalence and seroconversion among vaccinated employees (using ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) of
the UZ Brussel, at three different time points, namely 6 weeks (+/- 2 weeks; T1), 6
months (+/- 1 month; T2) and 12 months (+/- 1 month; T3) after the second vaccination.
Diagnostic Test: Serological testing
Antibody testing for Sars-CoV-2 specific antibodies in blood + T cell immunity
Inclusion Criteria:
- Any adult employee of the UZ Brussel at T1 who has been vaccinated at the UZ Brussel
with ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine between the 2nd of March and the 9th of March 2021
after participating to phase 4 of the COVEMUZ study between the 25th of January and
the 12th of February and has provided a signed informed consent.
Exclusion Criteria:
- UZ Brussel employees not active during the inclusion period (T1).
UZ Brussel
Brussels, Belgium
Investigator: Sabine Allard, PHD, MD
Contact: 3389
sabine.allard@uzbrussel.be
Sabine Allard, phd, md
+32 2 477 - 60 01
sabine.allard@uzbrussel.be
Virgini Van Buggenhout
+32 2 477 - 6001
virgini.vanbuggenhout@uzbrussel.be
Not Provided