Are antibody tests any good after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine?

Do you need to get an antibody test after getting the COVID-19 vaccine?

Health experts say the answer is ‘no’.

Here’s a look at why that’s the case: Dr. Emil Lesho from Rochester Regional Health tells News10NBC that antibody tests are not standard.

It means they’re actually testing for different things, and depending on what vaccine you received- it could show protection, or not.

“You might be getting a test that has the spike protein, and that’s the meaningful one, but might just be getting an overall antibody study,” he explained.

State officials put a lot of emphasis on antibody tests earlier in the pandemic, but that emphasis has faded as health experts evaluated the effectiveness of them in secondary infection.

The Food and Drug Administration put out a statement last week stressing that while antibody tests could tell a person if they had the virus- it shouldn’t be used to determine how strong an individual’s immunity is or isn’t.

Staff Report

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