Question 1

Am I eligible?

Accepted Answer

In order to participate in the study, you must meet these criteria.  
 • Cannot have had a COVID vaccination yet (and will be receivng your vaccination at UCSF or elswhere, we do not provide vaccines)
 • Not have serious health conditions that directly affect immune system (eg, autoimmune). 
 • Have a smartphone or computer 
 • Be 18 years or older 
 • Speak English and be able to fill out questionnaires in English 
 • Not currently pregnant

Question 2

Where is your clinic?

Accepted Answer

For your first visit for the study, you will come to our clinic at the Rutter Center at Mission Bay located at 1675 Owens St, San Francisco.
 
For the following visits, you will visit the UCSF Clinical Research Center at Parnassus, located at 400 Parnassus Avenue, A101 in San Francisco.

Question 3

What will I do in this study?

Accepted Answer

You will fill out questionnaires at 4 time points and have 3 blood draws.  The questionnaires involve one 15–20-minute packet, which mainly asks about health, mood and stress. Then you will fill out a daily questionnaire. See the timeline (undefined)for more details.

Question 4

Does it cost to participate in this study?

Accepted Answer

No costs are associated with your participation in this study.

Question 5

Will I be paid to participate in this study?

Accepted Answer

You can get paid up to $300 for completing all aspects of this study. You will receive your compensation via mail after completing each of the 7-day daily diaries.
 
For

You will receive $100 compensation after the second round of daily diaries, which occurs right after your second vaccination. (If you have J&J you will be paid after your first round of daily diaries).
 
For visit 2: $100 after the 7- day daily diary (one month after vaccination #2).
 
Lastly, for visit 3: $100 after the 7- day daily diary. (six months after vaccination #2).
 
One-hour parking vouchers will also be provided for each of the 3 blood draws. 
 
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Question 6

How do the Daily Diaries work?

Accepted Answer

You will complete four rounds of 7 day daily diaries during your participation in the study. There are two diaries per day, one in the morning around 7 AM and one in the evening around 7 PM.
 
Daily diaries are delivered to you via email or SMS, depending on if you opted into text messages while completing the baseline survey. 
 
1. First Vaccination: You will start recieving your daily diaries the day prior to your first vaccination and continue them for 7 continous days. 
2. Second Vaccination: You will start recieving your daily diaries the day prior to your second vaccination and continue them for 7 continous days (unless you have recieved the J&J vaccine).
3. Follow Up Appointment 1: You will start recieving your daily diaries on the day of your first follow up visit. 
4. Follow Up Appointment 2: You will start receiving your daily diaries on the day of your second follow up visit. 
ENROLLED PARTICIPANTS: We often have techincal difficulties with our surveys and it is crucial that we know of your vaccination dates as soon as possible to know when your daily diaries should be sent out. Please email us at BOOSTstudy@ucsf.edu if you notice you are missing a daily diary or if you have not told us your vaccination dates.

Question 7

Do I have to answer ALL of the questions in the survey?

Accepted Answer

We would ideally like you to answer all the questions because it helps us get the best data possible, allowing us to determine for whom the vaccine works best for and why. If certain questions make you very uncomfortable, we ask that you pause the survey and return back to it after a certain period away (you have one week to finish the survey after starting it). If upon returning, you still cannot answer the question(s), then you may omit it.

Question 8

What if I want to end my participation in the study?

Accepted Answer

You can end at any time.  There will be no penalty to you in any way for dropping out.  However, it is essential that you carefully weigh your decision to join before enrolling in the study. In consenting to participate, you have made a commitment both to yourself and to the scientific quality of the research. In these studies, it is very important that we minimize the number of people who drop out of the study as we have limited enrollment slots.  While we will honor your right to drop out of the study at any time, we appreciate you considering this decision and the scientific integrity of this study.

Question 9

Are my answers saved if I exit and then return to the survey?

Accepted Answer

We suggest that you complete all surveys in one sitting, but if you happen to exit out, then you may return to your survey where you left off. As long as you return on the same device (your computer or smartphone), then your answers will be saved.

Question 10

What is the scientific background for the study?

Accepted Answer

Fortunately, the COVID vaccinations offer strong protection from developing COVID-19 (94.1 to 95% protection from severe symptoms of COVID). However, there is still a lot to learn about how strong the vaccination is for different people.  We know from studying other vaccines, as well as from initial studies of COVID-19 vaccinations, that when we look at blood to measure individual’s immune responses there is still a lot of differences in the level of antibodies that different people produce.  We will measure the antibody response to understand what predicts a strong response one month later, and what predicts the ability of the body to maintain high levels of antibodies over time (6 months after that).  
The CDC estimates that the flu vaccination is 70% to 80% effective in preventing the flu (based on large review of randomized placebo-controlled trials of healthy adults). However, the effectiveness of that vaccine is not as strong in older adults. A quantitative review of 30 large studies on the antibody response to flu vaccination estimates that for people 65 years old the protection is only 17% to 53% (Goodwin et al, 2006).  Therefore, it is important to examine the influence of age on response to the COVID-19 vaccine as well as other the factors that may play a role in how well we respond to the vaccine.  
Psychological stress has been shown to impact the immune responses (O’Connor et al, 2021).  The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to many types of stressors, such as financial stability, psychological distress, anxiety, and depression, while the need for social distancing has resulted in social isolation and loneliness. Our BIPOC communities have been especially burdened both with stress as well as discrimination.  In addition, the Bay Area is experiencing climate crises, from wildfires to heatwaves. Our communities are under tremendous stress. We will measure an array of challenges as well as factors that protect us from stress and if these predict COVID-19 vaccination responses.  
 
You can read more here from the UCSF News Center: New Study Will Examine How Robustly Individuals Respond to COVID-19 Vaccination(https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2021/03/419971/new-study-will-examine-how-robustly-individuals-respond-covid-19-vaccination)
Citations: 
Goodwin, K., Viboud, C., & Simonsen, L. (2006). Antibody response to influenza vaccination in the elderly: A quantitative review. Vaccine, 24(8), 1159–1169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2005.08.105 
O'Connor DB, Thayer JF, Vedhara K. Stress and Health: A Review of Psychobiological Processes. Annu Rev Psychol. 2021 Jan 4;72:663-688. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-062520-122331. Epub 2020 Sep 4. PMID: 32886587.

Question 11

At which locations can I have my blood drawn?

Accepted Answer

Our only blood draw site for the initial study visit is at UCSF Mission Bay Campus.
We do not offer any other locations, unfortunately.
 
For the follow up blood draws, they will be held at Parnassus campus in San Francisco. See exact addresses in the second question above.

Question 12

Can I cancel or reschedule my appointment?

Accepted Answer

Rescheduling appointments is very difficult due to the protocols Clinical Research Services has in place. We ask participants to adhere to their scheduled appointment as much as possible. We cannot accomodate any changes to the schedule without at least 48 hours notice. 
 
If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment due to an emergency, please contact us as soon as you can by emailing BOOSTstudy@ucsf.edu and we will do our best to help accomodate you.

Dr. Elissa Epel

Dr. Aric Prather

Dr. Rachel Radin

Study Personnel

Julie Vaccaro

Contact the research team

(415) 409-8013

BOOSTstudy@ucsf.edu