REGINA MARIA Healthcare Network initiates the first study to evaluate the body’s immune response to vaccination against COVID-19. At the beginning of this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved vaccines that have proven their efficacy and safety against COVID-19. The vaccination campaign has started successfully in Romania as well. The next step is to monitor how protected the vaccinated population is against SARS-CoV-2 infection. REGINA MARIA aims to evaluate the dynamics of post-vaccination antibodies with the scientific support of Professor Victoria Aramă, PhD, according to Business-Review.eu.
The vaccination campaign in Romania is a success, with over 500,000 people vaccinated so far. Romania ranks in the Top 6 in Europe in terms of average daily vaccines. Approximately 2.5% of the population in need of vaccination has already been vaccinated and estimates show that 10.4 million Romanians will be vaccinated by the end of November.
In a first stage of the study, REGINA MARIA will test a sample of 300 employees who have already been vaccinated against COVID-19. The measurement of the antibody titer will be performed one week after the second dose of vaccine and will be repeated at an interval of 3 and 6 months respectively, according to a schedule also applied for testing the vaccine efficacy in clinical trials. To monitor the post-vaccination course, the level of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies will be measured using one of the most advanced immunological testing methods.
“Currently, electrochemiluminescence is the most advanced technology in immunological testing. With the help of this ultra-sensitive and reliable method, specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies can be detected with the greatest precision. This testing method has a sensitivity of over 97% and 98% specificity, without interfering with other types of coronavirus. In the end, we want to come up with a data input that highlights the dynamic evolution of the antibody titer obtained after vaccination against COVID-19”, says Dr. Andreea Alexandru, Primary Laboratory Physician and Medical Director at REGINA MARIA Clinical Laboratories Division.
Read more HERE
