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