New COVID-19 antibody study aims to reveal prevalence of virus
TACOMA, Wash. - It’s been six months since the onset of pandemic drastically changed life around Puget Sound, and people looking to get tested for the virus continue to battle obstacles.
Some are being told they must schedule a test days in advance, while others wait in lines for hours.
On Tuesday, a new major study launched by UW Medicine, government health agencies and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation aimed to discover how many across our state have been infected by the virus.
According to researchers, 7,000 participants will be asked to join the study. The test will differ from the diagnostic tests offered in more commonly seen drive-through efforts and instead include a blood draw.
The difference may show officials a more accurate infection rate since the pandemic onset and determine how long antibodies last in people who recovered from Covid-19.
As the study launched some people in the South Sound say getting a diagnostic test remains a challenge.
Cheryl Hill from Tacoma said she’s tested negative twice for Covid-19 but some of her family members weren’t as lucky and waited for hours before being tested.
“When my son needed to get tested, his daughter went to a party and a bunch of people tested positive,” she said. “He had to wait in line for 3 hours.”
“Unless we do better work around masks and distancing, there’s no way we can keep cases at the current level,” said Nigel Turner from the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.
Hospitalizations and deaths are on the declining across the state, younger people are testing positive and officials worry they could be spreading the virus.
“Testing is a complex system and any piece along the chain can break,” said Turner.
The county health department said it's sourcing more diagnostic testing supplies and asking some facilities that offer testing centers to stay open later in an effort to serve more people.
“The supply chain is very different,” said Dr. Geoffrey Baird. “(The) limitations we are seeing with diagnostic tests are not at all the case with serologic tests. We have plenty of supplies as do other locations for these things.”
Funding for the study runs nearly $3.5 million. Researchers hope it will provide the insight that could better guide our collected response to the pandemic.
“This might help us predict how large future waves might be,” said Dr. Kathy Lofy.
Hill worries others who are not part of the study and must wait through a backlog might still be spreading the virus when health officials say new infections numbers need to be declining.
“They’re out in the community exposing me and my family,” she said.
The first round of data from the study is expected to come out in September.
A focused effort to ensure people of color are accurately represented is key, say researchers. Those communities, according to the CDC, have a higher risk experiencing a more severe infection.