New UW COVID-19 study will test 7k people across WA, funded by $3.4M from Allen Foundation, next-Gen vaccine from UW researchers show promise in fighting COVID-19, and more from this week’s Seattle in the Spotlight.

New UW COVID-19 Study Will Test 7K People Across WA State, Funded by $3.4M from Allen Foundation

GeekWire | Todd Bishop | July 21

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/new-uw-covid-19-study-will-test-7k-people-across-wa-state-funded-3-4m-allen-foundation/

“The University of Washington will test a random sample of 7,000 people across Washington state for COVID-19 and related antibodies multiple times over eight months in a new effort to better understand the spread of the disease. The approach is intended to provide a more statistically accurate picture of COVID-19 than existing testing, which includes a disproportionate number of people who believe they may have been exposed to the disease, potentially skewing the results due to self-selection. The study, announced this morning by the Washington state Department of Health and UW Medicine, will be funded by a $3.4 million grant from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.”

Next-Gen Vaccine from UW Researchers Shows Promise in Fighting COVID-19

GeekWire | Lisa Stiffler | July 21

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/next-gen-vaccine-uw-researchers-shows-promise-fighting-covid-19/

“University of Washington School of Medicine researchers using a cutting-edge approach to vaccinations report that their COVID-19 vaccine is performing well in mouse and non-human primate studies…The Seattle-based researchers are developing a nucleic acid vaccine, and more specifically a replicating RNA vaccine. While this sort of next-generation vaccine has never been cleared for use in humans, it has multiple advantages to traditional vaccines, including being developed quickly and triggering a strong immune reaction (check out this GeekWire podcast for more on vaccine science).”

Seattle and Comcast Launch $100,000 Initiative to Improve Technology Access for Job Seekers

GeekWire | Monica Nickelsburg | July 20

https://www.geekwire.com/2020/seattle-comcast-launch-100000-initiative-improve-technology-access-job-seekers/

“The City of Seattle launched a new program this week designed to provide necessary technology to people of color and other marginalized groups who are looking for jobs. The Digital Bridge program, developed in response to the coronavirus crisis, is designed to provide internet access and other essential tools to Seattle residents looking for work through the Seattle Jobs Initiative (SJI). Comcast is providing $50,000 to purchase 200 refurbished laptops from the computer recycling nonprofit InterConnection to provide to participants in the SJI job training program. The first round of refurbished laptops were donated to 20 participants in the program earlier this month.”