A pilot smartphone-based program that provides notification of COVID-19 exposure is now available to UC Riverside students and employees.

The news arrived Monday that the world has been awaiting since spring: a vaccine has been developed that shows a high degree of efficacy in late-stage trials: 90%. That puts it in the company of effective vaccines such as for measles, and well beyond what the medical community hoped for in efficacy. Among UCR scientists, as everywhere, the news of the vaccine developed by the drugmakers Pfizer and BioNTech was welcomed. 

A program to test a smartphone-based COVID-19 exposure notification system will expand to an additional five University of California campus locations, including UC Riverside, as a result of success from an initial deployment earlier this fall at two UC campuses.  The program is a joint effort between the UCs and the state of California to assess the free, voluntary technology for potential use by all Californians.

UC Riverside’s COVID-19 laboratory has added more space and staff as testing on campus continues to ramp up. About two months after opening, the diagnostic lab has increased its capacity as part of the campus’s regular coronavirus testing of students in residence halls. “We’re always trying to streamline and make the process faster,” said Kathy Borkovich, a professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology.