Join the AZ HEROES Study

Join the AZ HEROES Study

We are not currently enrolling adults and children into our COVID-19 study.

The AZ HEROES Adult study will include participants from the following groups that cannot socially distance to do their jobs. This includes from the following occupational groups:

  • Health care workers 
  • First responders (firefighters, other emergency medical services (EMS) personnel, law enforcement officers and corrections (such as prison and jail) officers and other personnel) 
  • Food service: grocery store workers, agriculture workers, food prep and service (delivery, table, etc.) 
  • Public and other transportation services (bus, taxi, Uber/Lyft etc.) 
  • Solid waste collectors 
  • Warehouse and delivery workers 
  • Utilities (energy, water and wastewater workers) 
  • Construction & maintenance workers
  • Government and community-based services 
  • Childcare workers 
  • Group homes/day programs; disability programs 
  • IT professionals 
  • Environmental Services, Facilities Managers 
  • Educators (P-20) 
  • Front-line financial workers (bank tellers, etc.) 
  • Hospitality (hotel, etc.) workers 

Inclusion Criteria

  • You can participate in AZ HEROES if you are at least 18 years old and not more than 85 years old 

  • Meet one of these requirements:
    ----- Work at least 20 hours per week in healthcare, as a first responder, frontline/essential worker (retail, hospitality, community services, construction, etc.) OR
    ----- Part-time college student (at least 6 units) and work at least 10 hours per week
  • Participants must have smartphone access or internet access 
  • All participants must have a mailing address and plan to reside in Arizona for 12 months following enrollment 

Exclusion Criteria

  • Unwilling to provide verbal and/or electronic confirmation of consent 
  • Unwilling to self-report occupation, work responsibilities, and prior COVID-19 illness 
  • Unable to conduct study activities in English or Spanish 

All study participants will undergo weekly surveillance and self-collect a respiratory sample for COVID-19, via nasal swab, throughout the duration of the study. This testing is needed to detect when study participants are infected with COVID-19. This applies to both participants that have been infected with COVID-19 prior to the study and participants who are newly infected with COVID-19.  

All study participants will also be tested for antibodies to COVID-19 periodically throughout the study. The reason for this is to understand the length of time for the antibody response to COVID-19. Participants who have tested positive, via nasal swab, with new COVID-19 infection will be tested for antibodies again.

AZ HEROES Participants will:

  • Participate in weekly & illness surveillance through short surveys and at-home COVID-19 tests
  • Complete surveys about their COVID-19 history, risks, and occupational exposure
  • Go to Sonora Quest for blood draws to test for antibodies
  • Be entered into drawings to earn gift cards weekly based upon surveillance participation

Participants will receive:

  • Access to weekly COVID-19 test results
  • Pride that comes with advancing the science of COVID-19

 

The AZ HEROES Kids Study is enrolling children ages 4 months to 17 years old.

Inclusion Criteria for Children

  • Age 4 months – 17 years old
  • Can read English or Spanish

With Parent/Guardian assistance, participants will:

  • Participate in weekly surveillance through at-home COVID-19 tests
  • Answer questions and complete at-home COVID-19 tests if they become ill during the study
  • Complete monthly surveys about the child and the household
  • Go to Sonora Quest Lab for a blood draw between 1 to 4 times to test for COVID-19 antibodies (optional)

Participants will receive:

  • COVID-19 test results
  • New information and updates on COVID-19
  • $15 each week for completing weekly study activities and $50 for each blood draw (optional)

AZ HEROES is working in coordination with the statewide AZ COVID-19 Antibody Testing Initiative (ATI) conducted by the University of Arizona. The ATI is funded by the State of Arizona to provide COVID-19 serological testing of up to 250,000 Arizonans, including healthcare care personnel, first responders and essential workers statewide. If you are interested in the Antibody Testing Initiative, visit https://covid19antibodytesting.arizona.edu