Reuters reported Monday that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning a nationwide study on the spread of coronavirus into next year — and that the study will involve 325,000 participants.
Reuters reported:
The CDC study, expected to launch in June or July, will test samples from blood donors in 25 metropolitan areas for antibodies created when the immune system fights the coronavirus, said Dr. Michael Busch, director of the nonprofit Vitalant Research Institute.
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Antibody studies, also known as seroprevalence research, are considered critical to understanding where an outbreak is spreading and can help guide decisions on restrictions needed to contain it.
The CDC study should also help scientists better understand whether the immune response to COVID wanes over time.
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The six metropolitan areas being surveyed in the precursor study are New York, Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Boston and Minneapolis, said Dr. Graham Simmons, another Vitalant researcher involved in the project. “In all likelihood” the next phase will add Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Denver and others, Simmons said.
Researchers hope that the results of the study will help policymakers make better decisions about opening the economy.
Some fear that a “second wave” of the virus may return in the fall. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) also said Sunday that there could possibly be a “third wave” of coronavirus until a vaccine is developed. He noted that the influenza pandemic of 1917-1919 had several waves as well.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, is available for pre-order. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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