On 27-28 March, 2025, thirty CoVICIS researchers and partners convened for a last time online and in-person at the beautiful Royal Academy of Pharmacy (RANF) in Madrid to present their latest findings and look back over at CoVICIS project results.
Giuseppe Pantaleo, Professor of Medicine at CHUV, explained how the project’s combined state-of-the-art virologic and immunologic platforms with large genomic surveillance studies and diverse cohorts contributed a range of public health outcomes. These included informing national surveillance on the emergence and evolution of SARS-CoV-2; delineating effectiveness of vaccine-induced immune response in immune-compromised populations; and identifying vaccine-induced immune responses and infections, and breakthrough infections in health care workers and communities in Ethiopia, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa and Switzerland from November 2021 until April 2025. He congratulated partners for having achieved everything that the consortium hoped to achieve.
Some of the latest CoVICIS findings presented were:
- The emergence of mutations common to SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) suggests that persistent infection may fuel the emergence of new circulating variants.
- Every new wave of COVID-19 during the pandemic was caused by a new, unrelated variant that replaced the previous dominant variant, until Omicron, whose sub-lineages became increasingly impractical to track due to convergent mutations.
- The Omicron variant was less virulent than the Delta variant, with less mortality among both vaccinated and unvaccinated people. In addition, viral evolution seems to be due to a combination of selected pressures and a diverse viral population, regardless of viral variant, with a limited role of minority mutations.
- COVID-19 vaccines are efficacious and effective, reducing hospitalization and death, including among immunocompromised people and those with disabilities.
- SARS-CoV-2-specific T cell protection is durable out to 2 years, meaning SARS-CoV-2-specific memory T cells may continue to protect people from COVID-19 disease (severe or otherwise), regardless of inoculation with newer generation vaccines.
- T cell responses cross-recognise mutated epitopes from emerging variants, even in populations where updated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were never available. Persisting T cell cross-reactivity to future variants that arise may signal continued protection from severe disease.
- People with hybrid immunity from vaccine and infection have better outcomes.
- Post-COVID condition, commonly known as “long COVID,” includes long-term fatigue/exercise intolerance and affects multiple body organs. It is a complex condition with multiple potential aetiologies. The symptoms of most patients with long COVID improves over time, but some experience worsening or cyclical impairment over time.
While some studies presented findings that were inconclusive due to challenges with cohort size or other data collection challenges, the researchers were pleased to have had the opportunity of the CoVICIS project to collaborate and share approaches and results with each other to help mitigate the worst effects of the pandemic through collective engagement.
Aware that research can have a greater impact if it is translated into language that decision-makers can understand and use, CoVICIS hosted a brief workshop on communicating science to policy.
Participants explored ways to better communicate these recommendations to increase uptake of the findings for better public health protection by looking at the challenges and opportunities of communicating three top CoVICIS recommendations to policymakers:
- Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR) requires investment in large, multidisciplinary, international research networks. Governments and multilaterals that wish to prepare for and manage emerging pandemics should prioritize substantial and sustained funding for international, multidisciplinary research collaborations with large, varied cohorts and a long-term time horizon to monitor viral changes, the impact of vaccines or other interventions, and their effects in different contexts and populations and over time.
- PPPR requires international regulatory harmonization, including sharing and equipment. To ensure efficient and effective pandemic response, governments and multilaterals should invest in regional and international harmonization of regulatory requirements for sharing of data and equipment and/or include provisions within the research grant that enable flexible means of overcoming administrative obstacles to effective international research cooperation.
- Developing and ensuring equitable access to vaccines is imperative. To lessen the effect of a pandemic, governments should invest in rapidly developing and producing safe and effective vaccines; ensuring the general population – especially high-risk groups, and particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) – has equitable access to vaccines; and adopting a holistic strategy that includes public health measures to manage pandemics effectively.
Through the collective efforts of the CoVICIS consortium and its impactful findings, a vital foundation has been laid for advancing global pandemic preparedness and response, providing evidence that will inform scientific innovation and public health protection for years to come.