Immunity against SARS-CoV-2 in immune-suppressed patients: increased risk of insufficient immunological memory or sufficient protection against re-infection?

Patients with autoimmune diseases often use immunosuppressive medication. The effect of these treatments on the development and maintenance of adequate immunity after a previous COVID-19 infection and on the upcoming vaccines against Covid-19 is unknown. Research and expected outcomes First of all, COVID-19 specific immunity is investigated in patients and healthy people after a previous COVID-19 infection. In the second phase, the response to a COVID-19 vaccination is compared between infected patients and healthy people. In addition, this response is compared to patients and healthy people without prior COVID-19 infection. With these results, the hope is to determine the effect of different types of immunosuppressant medications on immunity to COVID-19, so that advice can be provided on the optimal vaccination strategy in the many immunosuppressed patients. This study is a collaboration between several university centers, Sanquin Blood Supply and the RIVM (Target to B consortium, T2B).