The VIVALDI Expansion

The VIVALDI study was set up in May 2020 with the aim of understanding how COVID-19 has affected care homes in England. The study is looking at how many people living and working in care homes have evidence of immunity to COVID-19, how long this immunity lasts for and whether it protects from further infection. The study is also investigating how infection levels differ between care homes and what factors might explain these differences. The VIVALDI study is currently running in 100 care homes in England which are run by the Four Seasons Healthcare provider approximately 3500 people living and working at these care homes have joined the study. These people will be followed up with blood tests over the next 12 months. The study is being led by researchers from University College London in collaboration with University of Birmingham, University of Oxford and the Francis Crick Institute and has been funded by the Department of Health & Social Care.

However, in order to make sure that the study results are generalizable to all types of care homes, the study is expanding to include more sites and more participants. From November 2020, the study will run from 250 more care homes which will include those belonging to chains of different sizes; those providing different types of care; and those that are under different types of ownership. The study is aiming to recruit an additional 10,000 people to take part from these care homes and is working with the Clinical Research Network and with care home providers to achieve this. This will be the largest study of this type in the UK and will inform government officials and public health experts about which measures to put into place in order to prevent future COVID-19 infections in care homes.

Dr Laura Shallcross, Institute of Health Informatics, said: "Expanding the Vivaldi study will tell us how many people living and working in care homes have been infected with COVID-19, and whether being infected once protects against future infections. This unique study will help us protect the most vulnerable members of society from this devastating infection."

The VIVALDI Study ​​​​https://www.ucl.ac.uk/health-informatics/research/vivaldi-study

Department of Health and Social Care https://www.gov.uk/government/news/expanded-study-tests-immune-response-of-care-home-staff-and-residents