Stanford University and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub research center launched a monitoring and surveillance platform that allows samples for COVID-19 testing to be collected directly from homes at a low cost: Vera.
Vera is an expanded testing platform that is scalable nationwide; it deploys quickly and is more affordable than other current options.
Pam Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press.
This technology, called "Vera", is a platform that allows any organization to create their own monitoring programs, which will also make it easier to protect their communities through large-scale testing.
It should be noted that Vera was designed as an extended test platform, which is scalable nationwide, can be deployed quickly and is much cheaper compared to other current options.
Vera was created in a public-private partnership between Stanford and other companies, such as Microsoft, to help reopen schools and workspaces that have been affected by COVID-19.
In a statement, Stanford University said Vera will be available on non-commercial terms to academic institutions, public health departments, laboratories and other interested organizations.
"The launch of this platform exemplifies how university and industry partners can come together to help. Collaborations like this are critical to addressing the challenges and complexities of COVID-19," said Jeff Raikes, chair of the Stanford University Board of Trustees.
Stanford School of Medicine Dean Lloyd Minor explained that since the beginning of the pandemic, Stanford has recognized the importance of testing.
"Vera is a step forward in our goal to support widespread testing of people not only in our community, but across the country," the dean said.
Vera integrates several components, such as a customizable registration system; a kit where users rub the inside of the nostrils and not the top of the throat (through the nose).
In addition, it has a secure user portal that provides test results and offers options to follow up with a healthcare professional. It also supports a wide range of self-assessment technologies, lab vendors and survey tools.
In this way, Vera intends to increase the use of software and testing capacity at local, state, and national levels and create survey models. It is designed not only for the current pandemic, but for future public health crises requiring widespread testing and surveillance.
Patrick Arensdorf, leader of the Vera program and director of the Community Alliance to Test Coronavirus at Home (CATCH) study, said one of the goals is to address inequity in testing.
With Vera, the goal is to narrow the social gap and reduce the factors that prevent underserved populations, who are at higher risk of infection, from being tested for COVID-19.
"These people often work in essential activities and have difficulty accessing testing done at a health care facility. Vera offers them a quick and convenient home testing option," said Arensdorf.
In addition to gathering information on vulnerable populations, "Vera could boost testing of schools and universities, and would allow for active monitoring of student health, thereby helping administrators prepare for reopenings.
