Studies continue in North Carolina on long-term effects of COVID-19

CHARLOTTE — Nearly three years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and plenty of questions remain about the virus and its effects on people.

The North Carolina legislature is funding a new study that hopes to plug some of those knowledge gaps.

Channel 9′s Glenn Counts spoke with researchers about the VISION study from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine as it looks to recruit 7,500 recently diagnosed COVID-19 patients to share their experience with the virus.

“What makes the difference between someone getting better and someone not getting better? What makes the difference between someone getting this again and not getting it again? Those are the things we have to learn and we can get a lot from people just answering surveys,” said Dr. Dave Wohl, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at UNC.

Participants won’t be poked or prodded. Instead, they’ll answer a series of questionnaires online over two years. For their time, they’ll be paid more than $100 at the completion of the research.

Researchers compared the study to a fishbowl. They want to observe different diverse groups of people to close the gap on what we know about COVID-19 and what we don’t.

While many of us have put COVID-19 in the rearview mirror, Wohl said its important to remember the virus is still out there and dangerous.

“It isn’t over till it’s over, and it’s not over, we see people in the hospital still, we’ve had an uptick with people being hospitalized,” the doctor said.

If you’d like to participate in the study, more information can be found here.

(WATCH BELOW: Pfizer, BioNTech testing combo vaccine for COVID-19, flu)

Pfizer, BioNTech testing combo vaccine for COVID-19, flu The companies announced on Nov. 3 that the vaccine has advanced to a Phase 1 trial. (NCD)

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