Antibody tests are designed to use blood samples to detect previous coronavirus infections and help bridge the gap between people who think they may have been infected.

You may remember the enthusiasm for antibody testing in the early days of the pandemic, when PCR screening, which is now ubiquitous, was rare. Antibody tests are designed to use blood samples to detect previous coronavirus infections and help bridge the gap between people who think they may have been infected.
The initial enthusiasm faded over time, but now the antibody test has a second life, although it is a questionable and possibly useless test as a means to check whether someone’s Covid-19 vaccine is effective . The core of the problem is this: The approved Covid-19 vaccine is very effective, but even the best vaccine does not work 100% in all situations. This makes consumers suspect that manufacturers and processors of antibody tests such as Labcorp, Quest and Roche are seeking to take advantage of this.
Testing giants Quest and Labcorp both describe their antibody tests as something that can be used for vaccination, although their websites contain disclaimers about whether the results are medically relevant. At the same time, Swiss drugmaker Roche said that a new type of screening it launched last year will play an important role in measuring people’s response to Covid injections.
The problem is that there is not enough research to support this view. The US Food and Drug Administration has stated that these marketing strategies may be premature.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration stated in a statement last month that antibody test results “should not be used at any time to assess a person’s immunity or level of protection against Covid-19, especially if the person is vaccinated with Covid-19. 19 After the vaccine”.
Scientists say they are worried. For example, if someone thinks that their vaccine does not provide adequate protection, or if the result is the opposite, they may give up all preventive measures prematurely, so they may decide not to go back to work. They say that no one should make important life decisions based on misleading data. -Emma Court
When it comes to their health, some people in the pharmaceutical industry have not waited for the government to tell them that they can mix two different Covid-19 vaccines. Although research on the effects of mismatched injections is still ongoing, some people who have studied science are changing their dosages to get the better protection they claim. Read the full story here.
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