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COVID-19 survey seeks vaccinated and unvaccinated participants

Doctors are looking to monitor the safety of the doses. Investigators hope to enrol 300,000 participants per vaccine across Canada.
Alanna Kelly
Alanna Kelly
PREFFERED Bettinger, Julie - November 2017 (4) (1)
Dr. Julie Bettinger, an associate professor at UBC, is the lead investigator for the CANVAS study.BC Children’s Hospital

A group of doctors across Canada are hoping to monitor the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines and are looking for vaccinated and unvaccinated people.

The Canadian National Vaccine Safety Network (CANVAS) wants 600,000 individuals (300,000 per approved vaccine) to sign up for the web-based survey to track any potential adverse reactions. 

“Tracking vaccine safety is a critically important task which CANVAS conducts for many vaccines,” said Dr. Julie Bettinger, the questionnaire's lead investigator, in a news release. “We are massively scaling up this work to find out whether and how often any adverse reactions occur after a COVID-19 vaccination."

Investigators are looking for participants across Canada, specifically in B.C., Yukon, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Novia Scotia and P.E.I. They hope to register a control group of approximately 50,000 unvaccinated people. 

In an email, Cheryl Rossi, a spokesperson for B.C. Children's Hospital Research Institute, said this is a great opportunity for those who have been wishing for a way to help further COVID research but are still waiting to be immunized.

People can sign up for the study on the CANVAS website. Those who are vaccinated will complete online surveys eight days after they receive the first vaccine and again after the second dose. 

Non-vaccinated people will complete three surveys. Investigators will then be able to estimate how much illness is expected in the community. 

There is no deadline to register for the study.