The purpose of an antibody test is, instead of asking you whether or
not you had COVID-19, we ask your immune system if your immune system
has seen the coronavirus. If you were never diagnosed with COVID-19, or
if you’ve tested positive for COVID-19 and have fully recovered, you can
get tested for antibodies. Antibody tests are available through
healthcare providers (with no out of pocket cost when billed to the
health plan) or labs (order online directly such as www.labcorp.com and www.questdiagnostics.com, cost around $120).
A technician will take a sample blood via finger pricks. A positive
antibody test shows that you had the virus at some point in the past. It
could be gone, or you could still be contagious. It can be “false
positive” if you have antibodies to other coronavirus (there are seven
coronaviruses that infect humans, such as SARS in 2003 and MERS in
2012). Scientists don’t know yet how strong the antibody protection is
or how long it might last. A negative result means you haven’t come into
contact with the virus or you haven’t had it long enough to make
antibodies. You could also have been exposed and not have antibodies.
This is called a “false negative”.
Right now, tons of antibody
tests have flooded the market. The FDA says it will crack down on any
manufacturer that sells a bad test. The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) wants to study blood from 10,000 healthy people who haven’t tested
positive for COVID-19. Researchers want to see how many people might
have had the virus without knowing it. If you want to take part, email
the NIH at clinicalstudiesunit@nih.gov.
