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Article History

Received: 17 January 2022

Accepted: 24 March 2022

First Online: 29 March 2022

Declarations

:

: This protocol has been reviewed by the Ethics Committee Research (EC Research) of University Hospitals Leuven (UZ Leuven) and the Ethics Committee of the University of Milano – Bicocca.Should additional amendments arise, then these will be submitted to the aforementioned Medical Ethics Committee. Samples for Belgian VALCOR are provided by the UZ Leuven, national reference laboratory for respiratory pathogens (Leuven, Belgium) and those for Italian VALCOR by the Clinical Microbiology and Virology Laboratory of the University of Milano-Bicocca (Monza, Italy). As the data are pseudonymised and the data generated through VALCOR would not enable personal identification of patients from whom the samples were taken, informed consent was waived and authorisation from the Information Security Committee ( in Dutch <i>Informatieveiligheidscomité</i> [IVC]) was not required.

: This manuscript contains no individual person’s data.

: VALCOR is a researcher induced study protocol where manufacturers can participate under the condition of providing test kits and covering research costs. Researchers do not receive any financial advantage by collaborating in VALCOR. Jesper B is the PI of a study at AHH-Hvidovre Hospital on SARS-CoV-2 antigen test where BD Diagnostics delivered test kits without cost. CC is co-founder of Hiantis Srl and has ongoing research collaborations with Copan Italia, BD, Seegene, GeneFirst and Novosanis. All other authors declare no personal conflicts of interest.