Don’t get antibody test after COVID-19 vaccination, experts urge public
Several experts on Wednesday urged the public not to take an antibody test after COVID-19 vaccination to avoid fear or confusion about their level of protection from the dreaded respiratory disease.
In a congressional hearing, Iloilo Representative and former Health Secretary Janette Garin lamented that the “right and left antibody testing is already eating up the confidence on vaccination,” especially among those who test negative for antibodies.
Dr. Michelle de Vera of the Philippine Society of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology explained that “one measurement cannot totally measure the entire immune response of your immune system to the COVID virus.”
“Please do not get yourselves tested kung hindi niyo alam i-interpret… Nagkakagulo po, nagkaka-worry (if you do not know how to interpret results to avoid confusion or worry),” Vaccine Expert Panel head Dr. Nina Gloriani said.
Dr. Regina Berba from the University of the Philippines Manila also stressed that the World Health Organization and US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention do not recommend antibody testing for vaccinated individuals.
She said this kind of testing is best done in the context of trials and not on an individual basis.
Garin also called on the Department of Health (DOH) to issue a categorical statement on antibody testing for vaccinated individuals.
DOH Epidemiology Bureau director Dr. Alethea De Guzman previously said the agency has not yet issued guidance for those who want to get an antibody test after inoculation, but also expressed concern over the possible misinterpretation of results.
In a statement issued later in the day, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said “the DOH does not recommend antibody testing to confirm if you are protected against COVID-19 after vaccination.”
“A negative antibody test does not mean that the COVID-19 vaccine did not work. We advise the public to consult their doctor before doing any diagnostic test because these should only be performed with professional guidance,” she said.
2 antibody tests
Dr. Jaime Montoya, chief of the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, said two kinds of antibody tests have been approved for use in the Philippines.
The nucleocapsid antibody test “will tell you whether you were infected in the past or not.”
The spike protein antibody test “can actually be positive in vaccinated people but it can also be positive in people who were previously infected naturally, so it cannot differentiate [between] the two.”
“Hindi nakasaad doon na ‘pag sila ay ginamit mo ay masasabi niya kung kayo ay protected o hindi, kung kayo ay immune o hindi (There is no guarantee that the tests will tell you if you are protected or not, immune or not),” Montoya said.
Gloriani also noted that there are “poor responders” who develop antibodies later than others.
“Our countrymen who eventually will have a negative [antibody] test [result] should not have a decline in their confidence in the vaccine,” Berba said.
The Philippines has vaccinated over 3.9 million people as of May 30, still far from the government’s target of inoculating 58 million individuals in COVID-19 hotspots by November. — MDM/RSJ, GMA News