People taking at-home COVID-19 tests now have the chance to get paid for it thanks to a University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School study.

The study will look at the performance of new at-home tests, according to Sarah Willey, a spokesperson for the school.

Researchers are hoping to enroll 1,300 participants, to obtain a minimum number of results that test positive for disease, she said.

Participants will have to download the MyDataHelps app, answer questions and perform three types of COVID-19 tests at home over one to two days, according to Willey.

The tests will be provided at no costs and once participants use them, they will have to mail their sample to a lab for PCR testing.

Once all the steps are completed the participants will be provided with a standard $25 gift card, Willey said.

Anyone in the U.S. over the age of two can participate, except those in Arizona due to lab limitations.

Participants will receive their results two to five days after shipping, according to Willey.

The study is part of the RADx digital Independent Test Assessment Program (ITAP), which helps researchers confirm the performance of new rapid antigen testing, as they seek to bring more high-quality tests to market, Willey said.

UMass Chan researchers have also evaluated the impact of the SayYes! COVID Test program in Michigan where 500,000 free at-home rapid antigen tests were distributed to residents of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti in the summer of 2021.

According to the study, which has not been peer-reviewed, during the delta variant surge two months after the program, infection rates were significantly lower in the cities that received the at-home tests.

Its clear that at-home rapid antigen tests are useful, and they have tremendous value at an individual level in terms of how people decide to live their lives in the pandemic, but also provide invaluable information to experts at a population health level, Dr. Apurv Soni, assistant professor of medicine at UMass Chan and principal investigator on the study.

Soni is also the principal investigator for this latest at-home test study.

Anyone interested in participating can download the MyDataHelps app to sign up.

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UMass Chan Medical School offering $25 gift cards for participation in COVID at-home test study - MassLive.com