As mass vaccination clinics roll out across the nation, commandeering sporting centers and arenas, critical questions remain about COVID-19 and what measures, if any, can help protect against it. Questions about immunity—how long it may last, whether vaccines are effective against emerging variants, and differences between those with natural immunity (acquired after battling COVID-19) and those who have immunity via vaccination—continue to be researched around the clock and across the globe. As answers slowly emerge, antibody testing is a powerful tool that may offer rapid answers.
Highly accurate, high-volume antibody tests are currently available en masse and can run on analyzers already installed all over the world. Unlike diagnostic tests (such as PCR or antigen tests), which show if you are currently infected by the coronavirus, antibody tests are used to determine past infection by detecting specific antibodies in the blood. As with any virus, a person who has been infected by SARS-CoV-2 develops antibodies within the first few weeks of infection to fight against the virus—an immune response to SARS-CoV-2. Even after a person recovers from the infection and is no longer contagious, antibodies may remain in an individual’s bloodstream for a period of time, and different people can develop varying levels of antibodies.
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