1/🧵So, how widespread is the national support of BC’s population studies? Or perhaps a better question is who in BC’s research field has most influence & clout at national level? Well, there’s 1 name on top of that list & that’s Mel Krajden - 1 of BC’s most prolific co-authors.
2/ A brief recap ...
On Mar1st/21, when #DrHenry announced that BC was extending intervals from 3-16 wks, Chief Science Advisor, Mona Nemer, said it basically amounted to “a population level experiment” & “that proper clinical trials” s/b conducted 1st. cbc.ca/news/politics/…
On Mar1st/21, when #DrHenry announced that BC was extending intervals from 3-16 wks, Chief Science Advisor, Mona Nemer, said it basically amounted to “a population level experiment” & “that proper clinical trials” s/b conducted 1st. cbc.ca/news/politics/…
3/ On Mar2/21, Dr.Henry called the stmt “an unfortunate comment", saying that Nemer “was not involved in the evaluation that led B.C. to make a decision tailored to its current case level.” She doubled down & insisted it was based on science & data.#bcpoli cbc.ca/news/canada/br…
4/ On Mar3/21, NACI said it "recommends in context of limited COVID-19 vax supply, jurisdictions should maximize #...benefiting from 1st vax dose by extending interval for 2nd..to 4mths" since it creates opportunities to protect population more quickly.
cbc.ca/news/health/co…
cbc.ca/news/health/co…
5/ Re:above article & perhaps a forewarning, UofT Immunology Prof Watts said “Cda is at a critical juncture, watching to see if variants will take off among partially vaxxed..Epidemiological or population-level studies are needed” to learn about antibodies/immune system memory.
6/ Also incl is interview w/Covid-19 Immunity Task Force (CITF) Co-Chair, Dr.Naylor who says: “the evidence is there for the concept of further delay” but “no one has gone for 4 mths since it’s too early in history of vaccines for this real-world data...”cbc.ca/player/play/18…
7/ Naylor: “it's feasible tho w/careful monitoring"& "Cda might benefit from being laggards in vax rollout since the British experiment will be pretty conclusive w/12 wks & might give..comfort about extra 4 [wks].” Btw, Mona Nemer is on CITF Executive too. covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/leadership-gro…
8/ Okay, what's this got to do w/Krajden? Well, he's held multiple prominent CITF positions. The 1st two & perhaps most influential is a member & Prov Rep of its Leadership Group w/leading Cdn scientists/experts that led the Task Force from Apr/20-Jun/22: covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/citf-leadershi…
9/ Btw, the CITF’s a Govt of Cda national initiative to support research related to COVID-19 immunity. Its mandate/strategy is “catalysing...funding & harmonizing research to inform Cdn policymakers, allowing them to make evidence-based decisions.” #bcpoli covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/mandate-strate…
10/ Anyway, Krajden also led 1 of CITF Working Parties, called “Immune Science & Testing Working Party” w/focus on “research related to #COVID19 immune science & antibody testing in Cda.” Working Group members are “some of Canada’s most respected experts.” covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/leadership-gro…
11/ But there’s more. There’s a Vaccine Surveillance Reference Group (VSRG) too “that's independent of CITF...” Its mandate is to report to PHAC President & “advance support for accelerated & effective implementation of vax surveillance plans across Cda..."covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/vaccine-survei…
12/ So, guess who are VSRG members? Yep, none other than Krajden & if you can believe it, CITF’s Executive Co-Chair, Dr. Naylor too. Even tho CITF’s EC functions “as arms-length audit/finance committee to ensure due diligence h/b done by VSRG.” Anyway, arm’s length & all that…
13/ That's not all. The VSRG also has 2 working groups - for Vaccine Safety & Effectiveness - that review studies. These groups are overseen by VSRG leaders. Guess who are Vaccine Effectiveness working group members? Danuta Skowronski & Manish Sadarangani. covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/wp-content/upl…
14/ All this is not to say there's been breach of CITF’s COI at least re:Skowronski's vax studies co-authored by Krajden/Sadarangani since funding stmts don't incl PHAC. But wow, opportunities for influencing national research & top decision-makers abound! covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/managing-confl…
15/ But there’s this that just can't be reconciled. On May20/21, Govt of Cda announced that thru the CITF & VSRG, it's supporting a new nation-wide study re: effects of Covid-19 vax mixing & matching & increased dosage intervals in adults. Sound familiar? covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/new-canada-wid…
16/ Now keep in mind while reading that Krajden, Skowronski & Sadarangani were involved in supporting this national study at various CITF levels. A project in a parallel universe & that checks all the boxes w/proper clinical trials that Mona Nemer was calling for in BC. #bcpoli
17/ Led by Dr. Langley of Dalhousie University & titled “Mix & Match of the 2nd COVID-19 vaccine dose for safety & Immunogenicity,” or MOSAIC & estimated to enroll 1,300 participants ASAP across CIRN clinical trial sites in NS, Que, Ont, Man, Alb & BC. cirnetwork.ca/mosaic/
18/ The initial MOSAIC study began Jun/21 comparing "effectiveness, safety & acceptability of dif dosing schedules of the 1st 2 doses..." It's ongoing at 7 Cdn clinical sites where 195 participants enrolled & rec'd either both vaccines or just 2nd one. cirnetwork.ca/mosaic/mosaic-…
19/ Meanwhile, in BC's wild west this "2-dose SARS-CoV-2 vax effectiveness w/mixed schedules & extended dosing intervals" was ramping up w/ethics waived, no consenting participants led by Skowronski, co-authored by Krajden & PHO Dr.Henry, COI personified! academic.oup.com/cid/advance-ar…
20/ Oh & Sadarangani is also co-author on above BC vax study too. And guess the other study he's also listed as a co-principal investigator? The MOSIAC research project! So, BC population experiments AND proper clinical trials!
MOSIAC has since evolved into 2 more studies...
MOSIAC has since evolved into 2 more studies...
21/ MOSIAC 2 - evaluating safety, tolerability & immune response to a 3rd dose w/approx 400 willing participants
& Jul/22 MOSIAC 3-evaluating safety, tolerability & immune response to a 4th dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
cirnetwork.ca/mosaic/mosaic-… cirnetwork.ca/mosaic/mosaic-…
& Jul/22 MOSIAC 3-evaluating safety, tolerability & immune response to a 4th dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
cirnetwork.ca/mosaic/mosaic-… cirnetwork.ca/mosaic/mosaic-…
22/ Hmmm, wonder what else is in the works in BC? Esp since like Naylor said w/regard to Cda’s 2nd dose delay, BC's still “laggards in the vax rollout” dept. I mean, in addition to latest "SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Children & Adults" pre-print, that is. medrxiv.org/content/10.110…
23/ Btw re:BC sera study, since it’s PHAC funded, I looked at CITF’s informed consent/data sharing. Consent docs “outline min req'd for..indiv level data to CITF database.” The 12-pg Data Agreement ensures “researchers can legally & ethically share..data.”covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/task-force-res…
24/ Looks like BC used CITF Retrospective Consent Guidance/Phase 3/Q #2: a) Is it possible to apply to local ethics committee to obtain waiver of consent? & b) Is it possible to apply to ethics committee to obtain auth to anonymize/de-identify the data…? covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/wp-content/upl…
25/ Re:CITF Data Sharing Agreement, I enjoyed this re:App4:“Provider Scientist agrees to promptly notify CITF...of any situation requiring removal of data from CITF Database, incl request to withdraw data on behalf of research participant or sample donor.” covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/wp-content/upl…
26/ One more thing, the CITF has nationwide aggregate data from studies measuring both vax & infection acquired antibodies in blood. And even tho they’ve concluded that Omicron “corresponds to at least 18.2 million infected Cdns” &…covid19immunitytaskforce.ca/seroprevalence…
27/ “…the rise of infection rate over a 7-mth period is equivalent to >86,000 infections/day, >10 times daily case numbers in previous peaks of SARS-COV-2 waves,” PH is still putting people at risk w/safety measures absent nationwide. #bcpoli
But that’s a whole other thread.
But that’s a whole other thread.
28/ Thanks to all for reading. This is a compilation of my latest investigations into BC's research & as usual it's a twitter defying thread!
If you wish to read the full story (& complete paragraphs behind some disjointed tweets), here it is: docs.google.com/document/d/19d…
If you wish to read the full story (& complete paragraphs behind some disjointed tweets), here it is: docs.google.com/document/d/19d…
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