Antibody tests are here at last... hooray

This past week saw emails about the availability of antibody tests for staff. Uptake was swift. Some NHS trusts have prioritised their Black and Minority Ethnic employees (BAME). This might not have a strict logic, but does seem to be a gracious way to thank those who have taken disproportionate risks.

In medicine, we tend to only do tests if it changes our management of a patient. So it’s a natural question to ask how these tests are going to change things. Does this mean that I can stop wearing a bloody surgical mask? Does it mean that the results will be used as a de facto immunity passport? Will it mean that we can be deployed even further into the front line in the event of a second wave? Will it actually mean anything at all if the virus mutates?

Perhaps most importantly, it will mean an end to the arguments at home as to whether my job puts the family and grandparents at greater risk… now that’s the kind of immunity passport that really carries value!

Today I saw one of my colleagues access their antibody test result in front of the team… everyone was willing it to be positive. In fact we can’t really see how they could be negative given their likely exposure and what we suppose is the extraordinarily infectious nature of COVID-19. Alas a negative result – will have to try harder next time.