QH to end funding for their landmark Covid study

Queensland Health will withdraw funding on a massive study that involves 10,000 Queenslanders and is designed to plan for how the state will live with Covid.

Queensland Health is to withdraw funding of its landmark and award-winning Covid-19 research that involves 10,000 Queenslanders and is designed to draw up a “critical” plan for the long-term management of the killer virus.

Thousands of people across 80 per cent of the state’s postcodes have participated in the QoVAX Program’s three studies to investigate factors that impact vaccine responses and how this relates to protection from naturally acquired Covid-19 and health outcomes over time.

The results will help Queensland Health better understand the impacts of vaccines and will help health services decide on vaccination programs and treatment of Covid-19.

But The Courier-Mail can reveal that Queensland Health is withdrawing funding for the project in three months and financial backing is now being sought through grant programs so researchers can continue to probe the collected data.

The study called out for vaccinated and unvaccinated Queenslanders to participate. Researchers have gathered thousands of blood and saliva samples.

“Funding to establish the Queensland Covid-19 Vaccination Safety and Efficacy Trial Program will cease in June 2023. Ongoing funding is being sought through a range of grant programs and academic partnerships to leverage the sample and data assets collected through the trial,” a Metro North Health spokesman said.

The HHS refused to comment further on the reason for the end of funding and the likelihood of securing grants.

Last year the study called out for vaccinated and unvaccinated Queenslanders to participate. Researchers have gathered thousands of blood and saliva samples.

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute has been a big player in the milestone research with dozens of other highly skilled researchers mostly based at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Herston, Brisbane.

Manager of Bioinformatics at QIMR Berghofer John Person previously said the study would be “extremely complex” but was “critical” to the long-term management of Covid-19.

The QoVAX Program was nominated as a finalist and received a highly commended award in Pursuing Innovation category. in the 2022 Queensland Health and Department of Health Awards for Excellence.

There have been more than 1.6 million Covid cases in the state since the start of the pandemic with 92 per cent of the population fully vaccinated. From March 8-14 there were 3049 cases.

Originally published as QH to end funding for their landmark Covid study