UK

New antibody test could pave the way for Covid-19 immunity certificates

A new test to determine whether people have ever been infected with coronavirus is 100% accurate, public health leaders have said.
A new test to determine whether people have ever been infected with coronavirus is 100% accurate, public health leaders have said. A new test to determine whether people have ever been infected with coronavirus is 100% accurate, public health leaders have said.

The British government wants to make a new “game-changer” antibody test available on the NHS.

Number 10 said the new antibody test would “certainly” be available on the NHS but commercial discussions with Roche are ongoing.

The test could pave the way for people who have antibodies to be issued with a certificate showing their Covid-19 status and potential immunity.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We have talked about, in the future, the potential for some kind of health certificate related to whether or not you have antibodies.

Read More: Where can I get the new Covid-19 antibody test and should I use it if I've never had symptoms?

“But we need a better understanding of how the immune system responds to the virus and the length and level of immunity following infection to better understand the potential of the test.”

The spokesman echoed Boris Johnson’s claim that widespread antibody testing could be a “game changer”.

“We still need to work to understand its full potential but this is clearly an important step forward and it does continue to have the potential to be a game changer, as the PM set out.”

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, British Health minister Edward Argar said: “We’re in discussion at the moment with Roche on this.

“It’s only just gone through the Public Health England assessment as being reliable, as doing the job, and therefore we are having those discussions.

“But we are keen to get as many as quickly as we can and get them out, primarily to the front line first, the NHS, social care and then more widely.

“Because this really will be – as the Prime Minister said – this has the potential to be a game-changer.”

The British government is not yet in a position to roll out the new antibody tests to the public, health minister Edward Argar added.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “It has only just got the green light.

“Obviously we will have had kits to test, but we are not in a position at this point to give these tests out.”

He added: “So we’re not in a position yet to roll it out to the public and have those tests ready to go.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously called antibody testing a “game-changer” as it may reveal how many people have had Covid-19 and may now have a degree of immunity.

Public Health England (PHE) said last week scientific experts at its Porton Down facility had carried out an independent evaluation of a new antibody blood test developed by a Swiss pharmaceutical company.

The examination found Roche’s serology test was “highly specific” and had an accuracy of 100% in detecting people who had ever had Covid-19.

Professor John Newton, national coordinator of the UK Coronavirus Testing Programme, said although it was still unclear to what extent the presence of antibodies indicated immunity to Covid-19, it was a “very positive development”.

He added: “We were confident that good quality antibody tests would become available when they were needed.

“Last week, scientific experts at PHE Porton Down carried out an independent evaluation of the new Roche Sars-CoV-2 serology assay in record time, concluding that it is a highly specific assay with specificity of 100%.

“This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection.

“This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infection although the extent to which the presence of antibodies indicates immunity remains unclear.”