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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil led to the suspension of face-to-face classes. However, the importance of continuing this activity made it necessary to return to these activities. This study assessed COVID-19 cases at a university in Brazil before and after the return to face-to-face classes. Methods: This study evaluated the positivity rate of COVID-19 cases through antigen testing over two years (April 2021–23) in a group of students and university staff in northeastern Brazil. Results: We found that of the 2,635 tests performed, 711 (27.0 %) had a detectable result throughout the period. We found no differences between the viral presence and age group, presence of symptoms, or position at universities (students or staff). Males had a greater tendency to present a detectable result compared to women. January, February, and July, 2022 show an increase in detected cases compared to other months. This result follows the national increase in cases caused by the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant and its subvariants (BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2, and BA.3) circulating in Brazil in these months. Conclusions: Our study makes it possible to monitor active cases of COVID-19 at a time when new variants are emerging and classes are resuming, contributing to the safety of the academic community and minimizing the viral impact on the return to classes in the institution.

Immunization is a challenge for the elderly population and can leave this group more vulnerable to opportunistic pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. Due to this situation, while vaccines were in the development phase, hypotheses were raised about the role of vitamins and minerals in immunization. In Brazil, there was a controversy regarding the well-known COVID-19 Kit, a standardized prescription for positive cases that contained zinc, and vitamin D, and anti-parasitic drugs. There was great controversy in scientific circles, since COVID-19 brought a major challenge for health professionals and public authorities: misleading information. In this study, we evaluated the role of vitamin D and zinc in the production of anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) in a group of elderly residents in a nursing home in northeastern Brazil. Serum levels of COVID-19 NAbs were assessed, along with vitamin D and zinc, in two phases. The first (T1) was in August 2022 with 26 elderly people, and the second (T2) was in March 2023 with 21, due to the death of five participants. Overall, we observed satisfactory levels for vitamin D, with no participants showing a deficiency in either test, and zinc, with only two participants having a negative result at T1 and three at T2. However, a drop in the average number of NAbs was observed, especially in women (T1 = 89 ± 19 vs. T2 = 57 ± 44), highlighting the importance of monitoring this immunological parameter in the population studied. Based on the results, we suggest that there is no synergism between the micronutrients studied and NAbs (p > 0.05). Further studies are needed to consolidate the findings of an absence of synergism between vitamin D and zinc in the maintenance of NAbs.