​Local randomised clinical trial 'Efficacy of Different COVID-19 Vaccine Combinations in Inducing Long-term Humoral Immunity', also known as PRIBIVAC, helps build local data on understanding immunity towards COVID-19 through booster shots.

PRIBIVAC aims to:

1. Obtain local data on vaccine response after different booster shots, and examine how the immune response changes over the months after vaccination;
2. Study non-mRNA vaccines (such as Nuvaxovid) and determine if the antibody levels after the booster shot with these vaccines are similar to mRNA vaccines;
3. Compare the immune response with different boosters against variants as compared to the wildtype vaccine strain of SARS-CoV-2.

To participate in PRIBIVAC, healthy participants must have received the first booster dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) at least five months before enrolling in the trial and fulfil the criteria to receive a second booster under MOH guidelines. As of 24 August 2022, the following groups of people are recommended to receive a second COVID-19 booster:

1. All persons aged 60 years and older;
2. Persons living in aged care facilities;
3. Medically vulnerable persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19.

Persons aged 50 to 59 can also receive the second booster if they choose to do so.

Please refer to this poster if you are keen to participate in the study.

​The randomized clinical trial 'Investigation and Comparison of the Antibody Response initiated by Recombinant, Cell-Based and Egg-Based Influenza Vaccines', also known as VAP3, assesses the vaccine efficacy of the 3 influenza vaccines by comparing influenza infection rates.

The VAP3 study aims to investigate whether recombinant vaccine results in a better antibody response than standard egg-grown or cell-grown vaccine. In addition, it aims to study if prior vaccination history has different effects on antibody responses when induced by the different influenza vaccines.

To participate in VAP3, healthy participants must be between 21 to 49 years of age, and are willing to provide current mobile phone number for SMS reminders.

Please refer to this poster if you are keen to participate in the study.

​Emerging infectious diseases know no borders; Singapore has experienced and continues to face threats from a host of such agents. These emerging infections and their spread to Singapore is dependent on multiple factors but a key element to reduce the risk of such infections spreading within Singapore and to mitigate any impact from their spread, is the "resilience" of the community against such threats.

Intended as a long-term (5-10 years) programme at National Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCID), it aims to address key gaps in pandemic preparedness, planning and response by assessing risk perception and knowledge, communication of risk and the necessity of outbreak interventions among the general population in Singapore.

Led by investigators based at NCID, in collaboration with experts within key partner institutions in Singapore, the research programme will establish and maintain a cohort of individuals, who are representative of the Singapore population, in order to conduct studies to assess our community's resilience and test health interventions against different emerging infections throughout the continuum of pandemic phases.

Recruitment of the cohort will take place in various waves with initial recruitment having started in June 2019. As of now, we are still enrolling new recruits into the cohort. We are actively using the cohort to answer important questions on public perceptions of the novel coronavirus that was detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, China.

If the General Public are keen to participate in the research study / would like to find out more about the research study, please contact the SOCRATEs study team at: ([email protected]) or 8200 2724 (WhatsApp Only).

Click here to download the Informed Consent Form (ICF).

This research is carried out to find out the extent of COVID-19 infection in the general population and to determine the fraction of asymptomatic infections in the community. Participants will also evaluate the feasibility of a temperature sensing wristwatch and mobile apps for detecting outbreaks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You are invited to participate in our study if you fulfill the following criteria:
(1) Age 6 years old and above.
(2) Living/working in Singapore
(3) Access to an Android or iOS smartphone / tablet / any other internet-enabled device and using it to fill out app-based surveys that will be conducted throughout this study (optional).
(4) Received an invitation letter from NCID through your letterbox.
 
Please refer to the attached flyer for more information about the study.

Sero-Epi Study Flyer

The laboratory tests will be performed with Genscript surrogate virus neutralization test (sVNT) and Roche Elecsys anti-SARS-CoV-2 N test against severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on blood samples. A positive test result by Genscript may be due to past infection or any vaccination. A positive test result by Roche may be due to past infection or vaccination with non-mRNA vaccines (e.g., Sinopharm and Sinovac). In general, higher test values are better for protection. At the time of reporting, it remains unknown if there is a cut-off value above which the antibodies will protect a person against COVID-19. A negative test result does not completely rule out the possibility of an infection with SARS-CoV-2 or vaccine failure.

If you have questions about this research study, you may contact the Principal Investigator, Dr Mark Chen, National Centre for Infectious Diseases at Email: [email protected]; Tel: 9646-1094. Alternatively, you may also contact Senior Research Fellow, Dr Tun Linn Thein at Email: [email protected] or the NCID Seroepi Study team at [email protected]. The study has been reviewed by the NHG Domain Specific Review Board (the central ethics committee) for ethics approval. If you want an independent opinion to discuss problems and questions, obtain information and offer inputs on your rights as a research subject, you may contact the NHG Domain Specific Review Board Secretariat at 6471-3266. You can also find more information about participating in clinical research, the NHG Domain Specific Review Board and its review processes at www.research.nhg.com.sg. This study is sponsored by the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) COVID-19 Research Fund First Grant call.