Completed
2022

I-MOVE COVID-19: Multidisciplinary European network for research, prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic

Duration: Mar 2020 - Jun 2022

Background
I-MOVE stands for 'Influenza–MOnitoring Vaccine effectiveness in Europe'. By working together in the I-MOVE COVID-19 Consortium, founded in 2020, many partners of the I-MOVE network (which has been in existence since 2007) are engaged in obtaining epidemiological, clinical and virological information about COVID-19 and on patients infected with SARS-CoV-2; in a high-quality, efficient and fast manner.

Aim
I-MOVE COVID-19 aims to obtain epidemiological, clinical and virological information about COVID-19 and patients infected with SARS-CoV-2.
In this way we contribute to the gathering of knowledge about COVID-19, to better patient care in COVID-19 and to obtain more information for taking measures to protect public health.

Methods
The existing long-term European influenza surveillance network (I-MOVE) has been adapted and expanded with a COVID-19 Consortium. I-MOVE includes primary care networks, hospitals and national reference laboratories in ten countries, which the consortium uses. Specifically, we use the following methods:
- use of a flexible surveillance platform (to be adapted to the epidemiological situation)
- doing research
- testing and evaluating (hypotheses about) public health interventions (e.g. vaccination or antivirals)

The prioritization of activities and research projects within I-MOVE COVID-19 are selected from a detailed list in the proposal, based on input from ECDC and WHO. The activities realized by mobilizing an existing large European multidisciplinary network, combining the expertise and resources of groups working in the field of surveillance (epidemiological, clinical, virological) research on respiratory diseases and the evaluation of vaccines / treatments.

All Project partners:
- Public health Institute, Albania
- Hôpital UZ Brussels, Belgium
- Public Health England, United Kingdom
- University of Oxford/RCGP RSC, United Kingdom
- Université Sorbonne, France
- INSERM, France
I- nstitut Pasteur, France
- Santé Publique France, France
- Université de Corse Pascal Paoli, France
- Vienna Vaccine Safety Initiative (ViVI), Germany
- HPSC, Ireland
- Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania
- Nivel, The Netherlands
- RIVM, The Netherlands
- INS Ricardo Jorge, Portugal
- DGS, Portugal
- INCDMIC Cantacuzino, Romania
- Public Health Scotland, Scotland
- ISCIII National Centre for Epidemiology, Spain
- ISCIII National Centre for Microbiology, Spain
- ISPL-Navarra, Spain
- Public Health Agency, Sweden
- Epiconcept, France

Result
By means of the sharing and pooling of European results according to an established protocol, questions will be answered that otherwise cannot be efficiently answered by separate countries. I-MOVE COVID-19 will quickly and widely share the study results with national and international partners and with science, and contribute to patient care and to the prevention and control of COVID-19.

International project website: www.imoveflu.org/i-move-covid-19
Funding
European Union - Horizon 2020
Project partners
Epiconcept, France (leading partner); 22 international organisations in Europe (see more at www.imoveflu.org/i-move-covid-19)