The presence of antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus could provide some protection, but scientists need more data.
Stacey McKenna writes in Scientific American that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently granted an “emergency use authorization” of a blood test for antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. It is the first such test to receive approval for the U.S. market. And it comes at a time when health experts and leaders are embracing immunity as a potential end point to the pandemic. In Colorado, a company that makes a coronavirus antibody test has donated kits to the state’s San Miguel County so that everyone there can be tested if they want to. And in Italy, politicians want to use antibody status to determine which people will get “back to work” passes.
Are we prepared to suspend current social distancing guidelines if someone tests “negative” to COVID-19? We’re not sure it’s time to do that.