01: Filling the urgent need for vaccinations and testing

ASU researchers have rapidly adapted to the needs of the community — first for free, fast and accessible testing, then for rapid vaccine distribution. After COVID-19 first appeared in Arizona, ASU’s Biodesign Institute shifted its capabilities to create a clinically approved and certified COVID-19 testing lab within two weeks. Soon afterward, the lab began processing thousands of samples a day, delivering results in an average of 27 hours, while much of the nation was plagued by the limited availability of tests and long wait times for results. Though highly effective vaccines were developed and deployed in record time, inoculating enough Arizonans to achieve herd immunity posed a logistical challenge. ASU is helping overcome the hurdle by partnering with the state to expand capacity and improve efficiency of vaccination sites.

Operation vaccination

In a lifesaving race to vaccinate 3.5 million Arizona residents by July 1, ASU sites have delivered more than 1 million of those vaccines. The state teamed up with ASU to expand capacity by opening its second COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site at ASU’s Phoenix Municipal Stadium. The site speeds the pace of innoculation by as many as 12,000 vaccines per day. ASU adds efficiency by overseeing staffing, logistics and operations at both state-run drive-thru sites, Phoenix Municipal and State Farm stadiums. ASU’s previous work on drive-thru, saliva-based, free COVID-19 testing at State Farm Stadium laid the groundwork for vaccinating one person every 10 seconds at the site today.

Members of the ASU community fill many roles at the vaccine sites, from triage and traffic control to security and clinicians delivering vaccines under the medical direction of the Arizona Department of Health Services. In addition, a small army of university faculty, staff and students volunteer to help deliver thousands of COVID-19 vaccines to ASU community members in the Sun Devil Fitness Center at the Tempe campus.

ASU’s collaboration with the state of Arizona has earned kudos from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who virtually toured the State Farm Stadium vaccination site. Harris praised the effort, calling it a “role model of how this kind of approach can work.”

Because of Arizona’s success, the National Football League is now offering up all stadiums around the country to be used for vaccination sites.

Registered nurse Britteny Hayes, with ASU, speaks about coordinating the personnel logistics of Arizona’s vaccination site at State Farm Stadium in Glendale during a virtual tour with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.

The joint ASU and state vaccination effort earned praise from the White House, which called it a “role model” for the nation.

Within one year, the lab has processed more than 800,000 tests.

The Biodesign Institute at ASU is an invaluable partner in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We needed to move quickly to test our essential employees who are responsible for keeping the lights on and air conditioners running for our customers across the state of Arizona. The Biodesign Institute collaborated with APS to set up qPCR testing at multiple sites within just a few days, and has continued to work with us to improve the process so that we can sustain an effective testing program and maintain a healthy workforce.

— Pat Dinkel, Vice President of Strategy and Risk: Arizona Public Service Electric

Making diagnostic testing easier and more readily available

When SARS-CoV-2 first appeared in Arizona, ASU’s Biodesign Institute shifted its capabilities to create a clinically approved and certified COVID-19 testing lab in a mere two weeks.

The team’s high-throughput, robotic system has the ability to run thousands of samples a day, greatly increasing Arizona’s COVID-19 testing capabilities and providing results within an average of 27 hours. ASU’s applied research and development arm, ASURE, planned and managed testing and vaccination site operations.

Researchers at the Biodesign Institute also developed the state’s first saliva-based test. The new saliva-based test is a game-changer for several reasons. It is accurate, less invasive, less labor intensive and requires fewer medical personnel.

Serving the underserved

As inadequate testing, economic hardship and shortages of everyday necessities wreaked havoc on local communities, ASU stepped in to fill the void by forging key partnerships with federal, state and local agencies. The university partnered with the Arizona Department of Health Services in July 2020 to provide free, public COVID-19 testing in communities around the state, with ADHS committing up to $12.7 million to fund the expansion of testing sites to serve up to 100,000 Arizonans. Later fueled by a $4.7 million federal grant, ASU identified Arizona’s “testing deserts” based on epidemiological data as a first step toward boosting testing and providing education, follow-up medical care and economic assistance as needed to residents in 10 underserved communities.

COVID-19 imposed an especially heavy toll on Indigenous communities. In response, the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health funded engineering research and community outreach led by ASU to apply wastewater-based epidemiology to detect coronavirus in reservation sewer systems. The process provides a faster, less expensive way to detect coronavirus in a community than testing individuals with nasal swabs or saliva tests.

As the economic shutdown created a financial crisis for many Arizonans, much-needed relief came through the ASU/Luce COVID Rapid Relief project, fueled by a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation; the COVID Community Action Alliance launched by colleagues from ASU’s College of Health Solutions and Center for Health Information and Research; and the First Peoples’ COVID-19 Resource Drive, initiated by ASU alumni to aid tribal communities.

This critical partnership will have an immediate impact in the fight against COVID-19 and help us surge testing where it’s needed most. My thanks to Arizona State University for their continued partnership and for continuing to step up to aid public health in innovative and invaluable ways.

— Arizona Governor Doug Ducey

Safely returning teachers, staff and students to school in underserved communities

Being in school is best for a child’s academic and social development — especially for those already struggling before the pandemic. But safely reopening schools in the state’s most underserved communities required regular testing to reduce COVID-19 transmission and identify potential outbreaks early on. In response, ASU and the Arizona Department of Health Services teamed up to open 13 additional COVID-19 testing sites for teachers and staff in underserved K-12 school districts. The sites offer surveillance testing for 20% of all teachers and staff on a weekly basis. Teachers and staff also have priority registration at free COVID-19 public testing sites, which are also readily available to students and their parents.

No-appointment, no-contact COVID-19 testing

The latest in ASU’s free, saliva-based COVID-19 testing, the no-appointment Devils’ drop-off service makes it easier for Sun Devils to test regularly and provides ASU with vital contract-tracing details. Available at more than 30 locations across four metropolitan Phoenix campuses as well as ASU in Washington D.C. and ASU Local in Los Angeles, the service allows students and employees to take a test whenever it fits their schedule. It’s as simple as picking up a Devils’ drop-off kit, going online to register the barcode found on the sample tube, finding a private area to collect a saliva sample and dropping off the kit at a pick-up location. As more students use Devils’ drop-off, researchers have the opportunity to obtain crucial information about the virus’s effect on the student population.

Making testing faster, more accessible

ASU scientists and engineers created a prototype easy-to-use diagnostic reader for rapid, large scale COVID-19 testing. The point-of-need device adapts laboratory equipment to a portable, microfluidic platform that tests saliva samples for COVID-19 in about 20 minutes. The device, made from off-the-shelf components, would make testing more accessible and require less training to use and implement. In addition, the adaptable technology can be modified to test new coronaviruses that may emerge.

Uncovering undetected infections

An antibody study of Maricopa County found that COVID-19 infections were three to four times higher than indicated by testing. The ambitious study, conducted by the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, Mayo Clinic and ASU, collected blood samples from 169 households throughout the county to test them for COVID-19 antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that our bodies produce in response to an infection. They can reveal who had COVID-19 in the past, even if they didn’t have symptoms. The survey found that 10.7% of residents — approximately 470,000 people — had a past COVID-19 infection.