Continued concerns over handling of U of I’s covidSHIELD test data, money

[August 23, 2022]  By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – From the money trail to the security of test data, some have continued concerns about the University of Illinois’ covidSHIELD saliva testing.

During an Illinois House hearing in March, state Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, R-Elmhurst, had a host of questions for U of I President Tim Killeen about the financing of the university’s covidSHIELD test and security of the data collected.

“No data is truly anonymized, and certainly not when you’re talking about collecting saliva samples which are going to have genetic information in it,” Mazzochi said.

“I hear and appreciate your concerns in this regard and we’ll work with you to alleviate your concerns,” Killeen said.

Killeen said they only sequence the virus DNA. He later responded to questions with a letter in April, which indicated they destroy samples after 30 days, but some are kept for research purposes. The letter also said those who provided samples in the research and development did so voluntarily without conditions on employment or attendance.

On Monday, Mazzochi told WMAY she still had a bevy of concerns.

“One of the things that’s particularly critical is that I’ve heard from individuals within the Urbana, Champaign area is that employees of the University of Illinois were obligated to participate in clinical trials,” Mazzochi said. “They did not believe they had a choice. They did not believe they had a right to refuse.”
 

The Illinois Department of Public Health continues to make the tests available to K-12 schools across the state at taxpayer expense. Teachers and staff are still mandated to either show proof of vaccine or to test regularly. Several public universities also are continuing their vaccine or testing mandate for staff and students despite the governor relaxing that mandate weeks ago.

In March, Mazzochi also raised concerns about the funding of the testing. Killeen said the covidSHIELD test program is operated by the university’s board of trustees, but there is the private SHIELD T3 LLC.

“We may well end up selling it off as other spin offs have been done at universities,” Killeen said. “The data rights are held by the trustees and have to be used in appropriate ways.”
 

With the state continuing to offer the SHIELD test to K-12 schools, Mazzochi said as a member of the House Appropriation Committee, she wants more information about the money trail.

“We’re not seeing a lot of transparency in terms of where this money is going and also who’s going to end up owning this very valuable information,” Mazzhoci told WMAY.

The Illinois Department of Public Health continues to make 1 million tests available to K-12 schools across the state free of charge to the schools but still at taxpayer expense.

In May 2021, IDPH announced it spent $235 million to expand the testing for schools, a cost of $10 per test.

Greg Bishop reports on Illinois government and other issues for The Center Square. Bishop has years of award-winning broadcast experience and hosts the WMAY Morning Newsfeed out of Springfield.