Windsor Regional Hospital has started promoting antibody testing to its staff to help protect them against the ongoing threat of COVID-19.
The finger prick blood test, which provides results in a minute, is also available to the general public through a Windsor-based medical technology company.
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Hospital CEO David Musyj said the tests can show people their immunity levels and tell them if it’s time for another vaccine.
“It’s another tool to determine when you should get it,” said Musyj. “It’s a valuable tool for that purpose. COVID is still in the hospital and still in the community. We want to try to figure out ways to protect our staff as much as possible.”
The test, approved by Health Canada last year, is available from Audacia Bioscience. They’re $20 each. The hospital is subsidizing the cost of the first test each staff member buys.
Dr. Phillip Olla, the company’s CEO, said the tests are meant to help people manage risks by check their immunity status and determining if they need a vaccine boost.
“We’re moving away from the government telling us what to do,” said Olla, whose company previously provided COVID-19 tests for people travelling between Windsor and Detroit. “It’s down to us to keep ourselves protected and safe. What this does for people is it gives you an idea of where you are with your immunity status. No one is actually immune. You can keep getting COVID over and over again. Once you get COVID you do get some protection, but it wanes. If you get the vaccine it will wane. So the only real way to make sure you are protected is to just keep checking your antibodies.”
The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit would not comment on the merits of antibody testing.
Dr. Phillip Olla, CEO of Audacia Bioscience is shown at his Windsor office on Monday, October 3, 2022. The company is offering at-home antibody tests so people can see how immune they are from COVID-19.
But the federal government warns on its website that having antibodies in your system, from either vaccination or previous infection, does not guarantee you won’t get sick.
Your body also needs time to make antibodies. It usually takes seven to 10 days after vaccination or initial infection for them appear in a person’s blood, according to the government.
Musyj said the antibody test is part of the “Swiss cheese” approach to protecting against COVID-19. With several pieces of Swiss cheese piled together, the holes in each individual slice are covered.
He said he started subsidizing the tests for staff to buy a couple of weeks ago after the hospital’s chief of pathology confirmed they work.
“It’s not just one thing that protects everybody,” he said. “It’s all the items. It’s air circulation, social distancing, masking, vaccines. It’s a layer of things.”
“So this is another piece of Swiss cheese that will hopefully prevent the acquisition or the spreading of COVID.”
Olla said the test would be especially helpful for people who are older or care for someone who is elderly, as well as anyone who has an underlying medical condition or is not up to date on vaccines.
“The key thing is it is your responsibility now to look after your health,” said Olla. “COVID is still killing people and it is still making people very, very sick. So it is down to you to make sure that the severity of your symptoms are less. You can do that by monitoring your antibody levels.”
The antibody tests are available on the Audacia Bioscience website or at its office at 880 North Service Road, Suite 105.
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