Covid-19 will not "magically disappear": Why access to widespread testing is paramount

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Paul E. George, Emory University; Claire Stokes, Emory University; Leda Bassit, Emory University; Ann Chahroudi, Emory University; Janet Figueroa, Emory University; Mark Griffiths, Emory University; Stacy Heilman, Emory University; David N. Ku, Georgia Institute of Technology; Eric J. Nehl, Emory University; Traci Leong, Emory University; Joshua Levy, Emory University; Russell Ryan Kempker, Emory University; Robert Mannino, Emory University; Maud Mavigner, Emory University; Sunita Iyengar Park, Emory University; Anuradha Rao, Emory University; Paulina Rebolledo, Emory University; John Roback, Emory University; Beverly B. Rogers, Emory University; Raymond Schinazi, Emory University; Julie Sullivan, Emory University; Erika A. Tyburski, Emory University; Miriam Benedicta Vos, Emory University; Jesse J. Waggoner, Emory University; Yun Wang, Emory University; Jen Madsen, MITRE Corporation; Daniel S. Wechsler, Emory University; Clinton Joiner, Emory University; Gregory Martin, Emory University; Wilbur Lam, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-12-30
• Publisher: WILEY
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ajh.26059
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEMATOLOGY
• Volume: 96
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 174
• End Page: 178
• Grant/Funding Information: RADx is supported by NIH Grant U54 EB027690 02S1.
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Hematology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Health Care Management; Health Sciences, Immunology; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Since the beginning of the current pandemic, COVID-19 has infiltrated all aspects of biomedicine. As the associations between mortality risk and chronic illness became evident, the field of hematology has played a front-line role in combating this global public health emergency, with a particular focus on patients with hematologic malignancies, immunodeficiencies, and sickle cell disease (SCD). Hematologists have been key in elucidating the pathophysiology of the microthromboses that occur with infection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus while determining the most effective anticoagulation regimens, in unraveling the mechanisms of the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, and in characterizing the development of neutralizing antibodies. 1–4 Accordingly, improving COVID-19 diagnostic testing – performance, capacity, availability, accessibility – has become a major collective goal of the biomedical community with hematologists heavily involved at the forefront of these efforts. To achieve this goal, on April 24, 2020, Congress appropriated $1.5 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support SARS-CoV-2 development and expansion of testing. Within days, the NIH launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) Tech initiative to develop innovative technologies and speed them to market, with the goals of 1) deploying millions of COVID-19 tests per week by December 2020 and 2) enabling Americans to return safely to school and work.5 The ambitious agenda of RADx Tech, as the name indicates, includes clinical evaluation, manufacturing scale up, and widespread deployment of tests to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 virus.