March 7, 2022

Why Antibody Tests Are Important
Antibody tests can determine how much protection a person who was previously infected with COVID-19 has once they have recovered—information that will be key to dealing with concerns about COVID-19 reinfection.

Additionally, as COVID-19 vaccines roll out across the world, antibody testing can be an important tool for monitoring how well the shots create an immune response.

“After vaccination, we can take a little bit of blood from people and test how high the antibody level is,” Zhong Yao, PhD, a senior research associate in Stagljar’s lab and the test’s co-inventor, tells Verywell.

Owen says that the test could also help monitor how long antibody protection might last—either after someone has recovered from COVID-19 or after they receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

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“If we see the antibody levels start to drop off, then that might be an indication that protection might be waning a little bit,” Owen says—insights that could be especially relevant for drugmakers working on COVID-19 vaccine boosters.

The Future of SATiN
The test’s developers are currently trying to bring their product to market with a commercial partner. It only costs about $2 CAD to process each blood sample, and the test results show in less than an hour—attributes that the researchers believe will make the test useful in point-of-care settings.

While working to make SATiN widely available, the researchers are already thinking about what’s next as the COVID pandemic evolves and variants of concern continue to cause new infections.

For the test's next iteration, Owen says that the researchers want to focus on differentiating variants in blood samples. They're hoping to find out whether the antibodies a person currently has will protect them against new variants, and whether someone who has been vaccinated will be protected against variants.

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Owen also says that it's important to note that even if you have some antibodies, it does not mean you are in the clear or should not get vaccinated against COVID-19. Antibody tests are just one tool in helping combat the pandemic.

“Just because somebody has antibodies now doesn't mean they're going to have antibodies later," Owen says. "And it doesn't mean that they’re going to be protected against variants."

What This Means For You
A new COVID-19 antibody test “lights up” when antibodies are present and determine how much protection someone currently has based on a simple blood sample.

While not yet on the market, researchers are hopeful that the test will soon be widely used to determine a person's antibody levels after infection with COVID or a vaccine.