Lessons from an international trial evaluating vaccination strategies for recovered inpatients with COVID-19 (VATICO)

Eleftherios Mylonakis; Joseph Lutaakome; Mamta K Jain; Angela J Rogers; José Moltó; Susana Benet; Ahmad Mourad; D Clark Files; Henry Mugerwa; Cissy Kityo; Francis Kiweewa; Mary Grace Nalubega; Jonathan Kitonsa; Evelyn Nabenkema; Daniel D Murray; Dominique Braun; Dena Kamel; Elizabeth S Higgs; Timothy J Hatlen; Virginia L Kan; Adriana Sanchez; John Tierney; Eileen Denner; Deborah Wentworth; Abdel G Babiker; Victoria J Davey; Annetine C Gelijns; Gail V Matthews; B Taylor Thompson; H Clifford Lane; James D Neaton; Jens D Lundgren

doi:10.1016/j.medj.2022.07.003

Lessons from an international trial evaluating vaccination strategies for recovered inpatients with COVID-19 (VATICO)

Med. 2022 Aug 12;3(8):531-537. doi: 10.1016/j.medj.2022.07.003.

Authors

Eleftherios Mylonakis¹, Joseph Lutaakome², Mamta K Jain³, Angela J Rogers⁴, José Moltó⁵, Susana Benet⁶, Ahmad Mourad⁷, D Clark Files⁸, Henry Mugerwa⁹, Cissy Kityo¹⁰, Francis Kiweewa¹¹, Mary Grace Nalubega¹², Jonathan Kitonsa¹³, Evelyn Nabenkema¹⁴, Daniel D Murray¹⁵, Dominique Braun¹⁶, Dena Kamel¹⁷, Elizabeth S Higgs¹⁸, Timothy J Hatlen¹⁹, Virginia L Kan²⁰, Adriana Sanchez²¹, John Tierney²², Eileen Denner²³, Deborah Wentworth²³, Abdel G Babiker²⁴, Victoria J Davey²⁵, Annetine C Gelijns²⁶, Gail V Matthews²⁷, B Taylor Thompson²⁸, H Clifford Lane²⁹, James D Neaton³⁰, Jens D Lundgren³¹

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Rhode Island Hospital & The Miriam Hospital, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA. Electronic address: eleftherios_mylonakis@brown.edu.
² MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
³ U.T. Southwestern Medical Center and Parkland Health and Hospital Systems, Dallas, TX, USA.
⁴ Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁵ Lluita contra la Sida Foundation & Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas (CIBERINFEC), Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain.
⁶ Lluita contra la Sida Foundation & Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain.
⁷ Division of Infectious Diseases, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
⁸ Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Immunology, Department of Medicine, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, NC.
⁹ Joint Clinical Research Centre, Lubowa and Gulu Regional Referral Hospital, Gulu, Uganda.
¹⁰ Joint Clinical Research Centre, Lubowa, Uganda.
¹¹ Makerere University Lung Institute (MLI), Kampala, Uganda; Lira Regional Referral Hospital, Lira, Uganda.
¹² Lira Regional Referral Hospital, Lira, Uganda.
¹³ Masaka Regional Referral Hospital, Masaka, Uganda.
¹⁴ St Francis Hospital, Nsambya, Uganda.
¹⁵ CHIP Center of Excellence for Health, Immunity, and Infections and Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet; Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich and Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zurich Switzerland University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
¹⁷ UT Southwestern Medical Center, Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Dallas, TX, USA.
¹⁸ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹⁹ Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
²⁰ Infectious Diseases Section, VA Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA.
²¹ Washington DC VA Medical Center Washington, DC, USA.
²² Division of Clinical Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA.
²³ University of Minnesota, MN, USA.
²⁴ The Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, University College London, London, UK.
²⁵ United States Department of Veterans Affairs; Washington, DC, USA.
²⁶ Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
²⁷ The Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
²⁸ Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
²⁹ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
³⁰ Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
³¹ CHIP Center of Excellence for Health, Immunity, and Infections and Department of Infectious Diseases, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Abstract

The protection provided by natural versus hybrid immunity from COVID-19 is unclear. We reflect on the challenges from trying to conduct a randomized post-SARS-CoV-2 infection vaccination trial study with rapidly evolving scientific data, vaccination guidelines, varying international policies, difficulties with vaccine availability, vaccine hesitancy, and a constantly evolving virus.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

COVID-19 Vaccines*
COVID-19* / prevention & control
COVID-19* / therapy
Humans
Inpatients
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
Vaccination* / methods

Substances

COVID-19 Vaccines

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding