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An antibody blood test has emerged to determine if people who received Covid-19 will not be generally available on the NHS any time soon, it has emerged, despite continued enthusiasm from government ministers and advisers on Thursday.
At the Downing Street daily press conference, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said the antibody test could “turn the game” if it was discovered that people who had been through the coronavirus enjoyed long-term immunity.
“I think it is very exciting that there is a very, very reliable antibody test, possibly even 100% reliable,” he said.
Jonathan Van Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, who appeared alongside Shapps, said Roche’s new test would be “implemented quickly as soon as practical,” with an initial focus on the NHS and care staff.
“I think it will be incredibly important as the days, weeks, and months pass,” said Van Tam, although he noted that it was still unknown whether contracting the virus gave people immunity and, if so, for how long.
If there were long-term immunity, Shapps said, “it would surely change the game, because it would allow us to do things in terms of releasing blocks that would not otherwise be possible.”
A second major diagnostic and pharmaceutical company, Abbott, followed Roche in announcing that its laboratory antibody test had been validated by public health agencies in England, Scotland and Wales. They found that Abbott’s test was between 99.73% and 100% specific for antibodies that appear in the blood when the immune system fights Covid-19 infection. Roche’s test was found to be 99.81% specific and 100% sensitive.
Abbott said it had the capacity to provide 5 million tests each month to the UK “with immediate effect”. He said in a statement that he was “working closely with the NHS and has begun shipping to NHS laboratories to allow them to receive samples based on government direction.”
But the Department of Health and Social Assistance did not appear to be in a rush to accept either the offer or Roche’s, which also says it can provide millions of tests to the UK.
“Antibody testing is an important part of our strategy to counter the spread of Covid-19 and help us understand who has had the disease. In addition to the recent large expansion of UK swab-based coronavirus testing capabilities, we are exploring the use of antibody testing across the NHS and, ultimately, in the general public, “said a spokesperson.
“We are delighted that the devices are progressing through validation, and we are actively working on our plans to implement antibody testing and will make announcements in due course.”
Underlying the cautious approach will be anxiety that people will seek antibody tests under the assumption that if they have had Covid-19, they will be immune and will be able to freely mix with other people.
But scientists say it is not known whether any level of antibody is sufficient to prevent reinfection, whether immunity lasts for more than weeks or months, and whether people can still carry the virus and infect others.
“A positive result from a reliable antibody test will tell us whether that person has encountered the virus in the past and has mounted an immune response. However, it does not tell us whether these antibodies will prevent you from getting sick from Covid-19 in the future or how long any protection generated could last – these are two factors we don’t yet know about Covid-19, “said Professor Arne Akbar, president of the British Society for Immunology.
“Furthermore, the immune system is extremely complex and there are many ways in which it can generate immunity, with the antibodies being one. We need to fully understand what “effective immunity” against Covid-19 encompasses so that we can better plan our response to control the spread of this disease. “
Widespread antibody testing is valuable not because of what it says about people, but because of what it says about the epidemic in general, for example, how many people have been infected in different parts of the country. That could lead to lifting some restrictions earlier in some places than others.
“The key question remains how the protective antibodies (that this test detects) are long and short term, but now we have an accurate test that we can start to measure this,” said Matt Keeling, professor of populations and diseases at the University. from warwick
“If a positive test implies immunity, this potentially offers a way to get out of the confinement, or at least a way to protect susceptible people from the most risky situations, for example, deploying health workers with positive tests (and therefore both immune) to care for Covid-19 patients. “
