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How to Participate:

The MGH PROTECTS study will seek to enroll subjects employed full or part-time throughout the MGB organization, ranging from healthcare workers with and without direct patient contact, non-healthcare employees working in patient care areas (e.g., dietary, maintenance staff, engineering), and employees working in non-patient care areas (e.g., research, administrative staff). All subjects who have the required characteristics to be included in the study (listed below) and are willing to provide informed consent may be enrolled, regardless of race, sex, or economic status.

What Determines If I Can Participate in the Study?

You Must:

  1. Be an adult (≥18 years of age) who is employed full or part-time by the MGB organization and provide consent to participate.
  2. Be an employee anticipating continued employment at MGB for at least 3 months.
  3. Have a Medical Record Number (MRN) with one of the MGB hospitals or are willing to have one assigned in conjunction with the MGB Biobank.

What Could Prevent Me from Participating in The Study?

  1. Recent symptoms (within previous 2 weeks) of COVID-19 illness (e.g., fever or feeling feverish, sore throat, new cough [not related to chronic condition], new nasal congestion or new runny nose [not related to seasonal allergies], muscle aches, new loss of smell or taste, shortness of breath).
  2. Any condition or taking a medication that you believe will put you at risk as a result of participating the study (e.g., bleeding disorder, inability or unwillingness to self-test or to understand the testing instructions, etc.). Contact (e.g., via telephone, text- or e-mail messaging) with a Biobank representative or healthcare professional who is on the MGB PROTECTS study staff will be readily available to answer any questions from you related to the ability or risks to participate.

No in-person contact will be necessary for entering the study. If you do not have easy or consistent access to the internet, a help-line will be available to assist with enrollment and completion of study-related forms by telephone.

What’s next after I sign the consent form?

After confirming that you can participate in the study and you provide consent online, you will be instructed to complete an initial short online questionnaire.

Everyone who participates in the study will be mailed a minimum of two test kits to their home, distributed by the Biobank. Some participants will be sent up to two more additional kits (see below).

  • Kit 1 will be mailed shortly after you enter the study and complete the initial questionnaire (ideally within 2-4 weeks).
  • An end-of-study Kit will also be mailed all participants approximately 12 months after joining the study.
  1. Each kit will contain instructions and materials to collect blood samples for antibody testing and a mailer to return your specimens to the Biobank.
  2. The Biobank will make a record of the receipt of the specimens and forward them to a CLIA-certified laboratory where testing for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies will be performed.
  3. After approximately 30-35 days, you will be informed about your antibody results via a link to a secure study Website.
  4. If the initial laboratory test finds that you have antibodies (i.e., a positive test), we will send you two additional test kits during the study. You will receive these additional kits approximately 4 and 8 months after you joined the study so that we may test whether these antibodies remain in your blood.
  5. Everyone will complete follow-up questionnaires approximately 4, 8, and 12 months after joining the study so that we may follow your health status. Should you develop symptoms of COVID-19 during this follow-up period, you will tell us about these symptoms on the follow-up questionnaire. According to MGB policy, you will also need to contact Occupational Health to tell them about your symptoms. We will then arrange to send you a kit to test for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Subjects enrolling in the MGB PROTECTS study will be automatically enrolled in the MGB BioBank after it is confirmed that they have a Medical Record Number (MRN) in one of the MGB-affiliated hospitals.