COVID-19 Antibody Tests Now Available Across MA

MARLBOROUGH, MA — The company that has been handling a majority of coronavirus testing in Massachusetts is now offering a new kind of test to the public that may determine if a person had COVID-19. But health officials — and even Gov. Charlie Baker — warn that the testing is not accurate enough yet.

Quest Diagnostics, whose main local lab is in Marlborough, is offering a $119 antibody test to almost anyone who wants one. The test looks for antibodies produced during the immune system response to the COVID-19 infection, but serological test do not detect coronavirus itself, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

"While the science on COVID-19 is evolving, testing for antibodies may identify people who have likely been exposed to COVID-19 and might have mounted an immune response to the virus." Quest's Chief Medical Officer Jay Wohlgemuth said in a news release.

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On Monday, Baker said during his daily news conference that he's "concerned" about the accuracy of antibody tests. The test also don't necessarily tell a person if they're immune to the virus, Baker said.

Boston and Mass General Hospital are partnering on a plan to give 1,000 residents in that city antibody tests. The goal is to see how far the infection has spread in the city, officials have said, because about a quarter of people do not show symptoms.

For those interested, the test can be purchased on the Quest website. You would then go to a local Quest clinic — there are locations across the state, including in Framingham, Shrewsbury, and Worcester — and get blood drawn. Test results are posted after a few days in a patient's account on the Quest website.

Quest says that the antibody tests are not for people who have tested positive for coronavirus, or who have experienced symptoms recently.

As of April 19, Question had processed over 63,000 coronavirus tests in Massachusetts. The state stopped releasing numbers on individual testing labs on April 20, but as of Monday 244,887 people had been tested across the state.