UW Medicine study seeks local participants to understand COVID spread
Oct 23, 2021, 2:16 PM
A sticker outside T-Mobile Park reminds fans to keep their distance in line. (MyNorthwest photo)
(MyNorthwest photo)
As part of a study about the spread of COVID-19, Washington state residents up to age 85 are invited to submit a survey about their exposure to the virus during the pandemic.
UW Virology head: ‘I hope we give science benefit of doubt’ in next pandemic
A UW Medicine study is trying understand the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Washington. The WAshington coronaVirus Exposure Survey (WAVES) asks prospective participants to complete a survey.
Some of the people who complete the survey will then be selected to provide a nasal swab for a COVID-19 test. Selected participants over the age of 10 are also invited to give a blood sample for an antibody test, which may detect a previous COVID-19 infection.
“We don’t know what variants are coming up in the future, so this information is really going to help us plan things like booster shots, testing, availability [and] all the protections we need to take,” Dr. Keith Jerome said.
Dr. Jerome heads UW Medicine’s Virology division and is the principal investigator for the study.
According to the Washington State Department of Health, as of Oct. 21, there have been 625,677 confirmed cases of COVID statewide since the start of the pandemic. As of Oct. 18, 78.1% of Washingtonians age 12 and older have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 72% of people 12 and older are fully vaccinated.
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