Canadian Immunization Research Network: COVID-19 Vaccine Readiness

The Canadian Immunization Research Network (CIRN) is a collaborative national research network that brings together more than 150 investigators in 56 institutions across Canada. CIRN comprises eight subnetworks built to provide research capacity that is responsive and scalable to undertake research during an infectious disease crisis such as a pandemic and to provide public health with Canadian-relevant vaccine-related research for public health decision making. As a network of networks, CIRN is centered on clinical research, surveillance and epidemiological research, and public health program evaluation. The eight subnetworks are the Clinical Trials Network (CTN), Serious Outcomes Surveillance Network (SOS), Canadian National Vaccine Safety Network (CANVAS), Special Immunization Clinics Network (SIC), Provincial Collaborative Network (PCN), Reference Laboratory Network (RLN), Modeling and Economics Research Network (ModERN), and Social Sciences and Humanities Network (SSHN). Four research areas will be addressed: COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, population prioritization and modeling, vaccine hesitancy and uptake, and coordination and information sharing. The COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials research area will be met by coordinating research through the CTN, RLN, SIC, CANVAS, and PCN networks. The population prioritization and modeling research area will be met by assessing various models through the ModERN network. The SSHN network will address the vaccine hesitancy and uptake research area. Coordination and information sharing will be addressed by the collaborative efforts of the Network Management Office, which will work with network leaders in order to coproduce knowledge that will inform our stakeholders and public health.