A ‘globally significant’ bank of biosamples from a study into the immune effects of Covid vaccines is set to be destroyed, two years after the award-winning research project was defunded by the Queensland Government.
Intended “to better understand the short, medium and long-term impacts of COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines in Queensland,” the QoVAX Safety and Efficacy Statewide Study boasted 10,000 adult participants across 86% of postcodes, both vaccinated and unvaccinated, generating over 100,000 biospecimens and 11 million data points.
With its digitally-integrated biobank and linked data repository, the study promised to enable ongoing research addressing epidemiology, genomics, virology, and immunology, as well as unforeseen complications of Covid vaccines, and long Covid outcomes.
Some of state’s most important research bodies partnered on the project, including QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, the University of Queensland (UQ), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), James Cook University and Griffith University.
Data collection began in August 2021, with an initial pilot study reportedly finding that while people in all age ranges had developed antibodies after two doses of Covid vaccination, the response was lower for people aged over 50.
“The study will provide us with a clearer picture about what factors – such as our genetic makeup, lifestyle and general health and wellbeing – influence a person’s vaccine response in this real-world situation,” said QoVAX Director Professor Janet Davies at the outset.
However, less than two years later, in June 2023, the study was defunded with no official explanation, jeopardising several unpublished research papers that were near completion. Professor Davies was removed as project lead, and QoVAX was handed to Queensland’s Metro North Health. Sample collection ceased, data was shelved, and government web pages for the once-hyped initiative were deleted.
Experts and participants have since been calling for the resurrection of the QoVAX project, but in a letter to study participants last month, Metro North Health confirmed that the study will be permanently shut down, with all samples and data to be destroyed.
“Metro North Health has determined that, for a range of reasons including the many mutations of the COVID-19 virus and similar studies from Australia and worldwide, there is no longer a scientific and public health need to retain these biological samples for future study,” said the letter, sent 19 March 2025.
“Therefore, these samples will be appropriately sterilised and disposed of. All study data collected as part of the QoVAX-SET study will be archived for the specified time-period as required by law, however, it will not be accessed or used for any future purpose.”
Professor Davies called the decision, on which she was not consulted, “incredibly disappointing.”
“It’s a terrible example of research wastage and loss of a globally significant opportunity to realise benefits and generate knowledge through research based on the unique samples provided by the 10,000 Queenslanders who gave consent and participated,” Professor Davies, who heads up the Allergy Research Group at QUT, told Canberra Daily.
Indeed, QoVAX was unique in that it was one of the only real-world studies to have access to a ‘comparison set’ of participants who had been vaccinated, but had not been infected with the Covid virus, which only took off in Queensland after the state borders opened in December 2021.
The collection of biosamples and data from this comparison set was particularly significant in light of the fact that the Covid vaccine manufacturers unblinded the placebo arms in their randomised controlled trials (RCTs) within months of the trials beginning, preventing the collection of medium-to-long-term trial data on vaccine effects.
Professor Kerryn Phelps AM, a GP and former president of the Australian Medical Association, said that the QoVAX biobank and dataset was “extremely valuable” to research which is needed to inform diagnostic and treatment protocols for Covid vaccine injuries and long Covid.
In her GP practice, Professor Phelps manages patients who are suspected to have either one or a combination of these conditions. Professor Phelps also suffered “devastating” injury from her own Pfizer Covid vaccination, resulting in dysautonomia with intermittent fevers and cardiovascular implications, including breathlessness, inappropriate sinus tachycardia and blood pressure fluctuations.
While the overlap between Covid vaccine injury and long Covid has been highlighted in several key studies, doctors and patient advocacy groups say there is still a dearth of research to identify the underlying mechanisms of these conditions.
”We really need to develop biomarkers to be able to make a more definitive diagnosis, both for vaccine injury and for long Covid,” said Professor Phelps.
“In parallel, we need to develop a range of evidence-based treatment protocols that are available to GPs and other specialists.”
The loss of the QoVAX biobank and dataset similarly concerns Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick of the People First Party (formerly of the Liberal Party), who has been a staunch advocate for the Covid vaccine-injured.
“Destroying these records has eliminated the possibility of interpreting the collected data and therefore prevented vital research into the cause of the vaccine injured,” Senator Rennick told Canberra Daily.
Professor Phelps said that even if the Queensland Government can’t foresee a value in retaining the biosamples, “It’s very possible that those samples will be helpful for future research.”
“I would urge the federal Department of Health or a suitable research facility to take over responsibility for this biobank and dataset for future scientific research so that this potentially valuable resource is not lost,” said Professor Phelps.
“From a scientific perspective, I would certainly urge the peer review and publication of research conducted to date.”
Emeritus Professor of Medicine Wendy Hoy AO, recently retired from her tenure at UQ, agreed that everything should be done to ensure the preservation of the QoVAX biobank and accompanying data.
“Most officially collected data can be put to some use,” said Professor Hoy, adding that “nothing should be destroyed or hidden” and that “all person-level data can be anonymised” where privacy concerns arise.
“Epidemiologists and statisticians can make accommodations for incomplete and potentially inaccurate data and can provide a range of qualified interpretations for consideration. Queensland can make an important contribution.”
Canberra Daily asked Metro North Health when the archived data will be destroyed, and whether any of the research done to date will ever be published.
A spokesperson responded:
“Data for the QoVAX project will be stored in accordance with the Queensland Government General Retention and Disposal Schedule, Health Sector (Clinical Records) Retention and Disposal Schedule and Health Sector (Corporate Records) Retention and Disposal Schedule.
“Publication of results is the responsibility of the researchers, however Metro North Health encourages the publication of data that has been analysed to date.”
Professor Davies said she and other investigators have been working to have their research published over the past 18 months. While one manuscript has made it to the peer review process, Professor Davies said that she has faced setbacks in co-ordinating with Metro North Health to access and share data. However, she noted that data access is a common challenge in health and medical research.
Queensland Health was asked to provide an estimate of the total monies invested in the QoVAX project to date, but did not provide an answer.
It has previously been reported that the QoVAX project cost only $20 million, a drop in the bucket compared to Queensland Health’s operating budget of $26.7 billion for 2024-2025.
This is also spare change for the Federal Government, considering its spending on other Covid vaccine-related projects, including $18 billion spent on Covid vaccines and treatments, and $532 million spent on the COVID-19 Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative for the Pacific and South East Asia.
Canberra Daily asked the Department of Health whether the Federal Government has considered, or is considering, taking over the QoVAX biosamples and dataset so that they can be preserved, but did not receive a response before publication deadline.
Short of a miracle, it looks as though the Queensland Government is committed to the destruction of this internationally significant biobank and data set.
“The indignation of participants and dismay of the team can be imagined,” said Professor Hoy of the prospect.
Not to mention those suffering from long Covid and vaccine injuries, who have been calling for better research for years.
“It is another slap in the face to these people as they desperately need recognition of their injuries and more importantly, remedies that can restore their health,” said Senator Rennick.
