Frequently Asked Questions

Can I live anywhere in the U.S. and participate?: Yes, you can live anywhere in the US to participate in the LISTEN study. You will only be eligible to provide biospecimens if you live in the continental United States (we cannot get biospecimens from Alaska or Hawaii).
How do I know where to get my blood drawn?: Once you enroll in the study, you will receive an email or text with information about how to sign up for an appointment. A member of the Yale study team will also call to help you schedule an appointment.
Will I be charged for the tests?: No. There are no costs involved in participating in this study, and you will not be charged for any lab tests.
Do I need to have insurance?: No. You do not need to have insurance, and there will be no billing or costs associated with participating in this study, with the exception of the personal cost of transportation to travel to one of the Yale testing sites.
Will I receive my personal results?: You will not be able to receive your personal results from the lab tests in this study. Because these tests are not yet approved for clinical diagnosis (although they are approved for research) under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA), we cannot share your individual test results with you. However, we will share the results of the study and our findings with everyone who participates. You will also be able to download a record of all of your survey responses.
I’ve already received one does of a two-dose regimen. Am I eligible?: No. Unfortunately we can only include people who have not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Will my information be reported to my health insurance company or doctor?: No. We will not share any of the data that we collect during the study with your doctor or health insurance provider.
I had a clinical diagnosis of Covid but I didn’t have access to a PCR test and later tested negative for antibodies. Am I eligible?: Yes. If you received a COVID-19 diagnosis from a clinician, you are not eligible. If this clinician was not in the Yale New Haven Health system, we will ask for proof of the diagnosis (including a letter from the clinician). We acknowledge that many people who have had COVID-19 never had access to testing or clinical diagnosis and were not hospitalized, but unfortunately cannot include them in this study.
Does it matter which vaccine I receive?: For the purposes of this study it does not matter which vaccine you receive.
I got a positive diagnosis after my first dose of a two-dose regimen. Am I eligible?: No. Unfortunately we can only include people who have not received any doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, even if you tested positive afterward.
I haven’t received the vaccine but I did receive Monoclonal Antibodies. Am I eligible?: Yes, you are still eligible for the study.
Will I be obligated to continue in this study past three months?: No, and you can leave the study at any point.
I have PASC symptoms that come and go. Am I eligible?: Yes, if you have moderate-to-severe symptoms that come and go you are still eligible, so long as you have had these symptoms recently (within the past month).
I have mild Long Covid. Am I eligible?: We want to include anyone who has Long Covid symptoms that bother them and interfere with their normal activities. We want participants to decide what this means to them and will be asking more specific questions during the study to understand everyone’s symptoms.
Which symptoms qualify you as having PASC? Ongoing headaches? Shortness of breath? Lack of smell and taste?: Yes, any symptoms that have been ongoing and have interfered with your normal activities qualify. There is not a list of specific symptoms that we are looking for participants to have in order to join this study. We will be asking survey questions during the study to understand participants’ symptoms.
Who will get my data? Is it anonymous?: Your data will not be shared outside of the research team. In the spirit of open science, we may also share de-identified data with other scientists to support further investigations, but this data would not have your name, or any other information that could be used to identify you.