A proper antibody testing roll-out can keep the COVID wolf from the door

Ian Bolland suggests what other measures could be put in place to bring COVID-19 cases to a low level. 

As I write this, the situation in the UK is looking a little precarious again, and if we were to endure another winter of harsh restrictions, it would feel like a huge kick in the teeth for many who have sacrificed so much. Put aside the selfish aspect of thinking about one’s freedoms, with deaths still more than 100 a day despite a government doing victory laps about its admittedly commendable vaccination programme, there is clearly a need for more measures to be put in place.

Politically, this dividing line seems to fall on masks, social distancing, and home working measures to make R rate more manageable to handle so the NHS doesn’t fall over this winter and prevent the grave knock-on effects that can have on other aspects, such as routine operations being cancelled and the backlog caused by waves of COVID-19 so far. The government’s method of handling a crisis which has seen over 140,000 people sadly pass away because of the disease, is to bet its house on the booster programme, and encouraging those who have yet to have either of their two jabs to come forward. Both aspects make sense, but there have been warnings that vaccination alone will not get you out of this particular rut – as has been evidenced in Israel previously and currently in mainland Europe – and the good work of a quick rate of vaccination can be undone if there are no other mitigations put in place. It seems the government has left the pitch in this regard. 

Regular readers and listeners to what I have had to say throughout the pandemic would know that I have not been the greatest fan of the government’s response – mainly because I feel they have left it too late to act and it’s cost the lives of loved ones, and on a personal note, I feel that it put someone very close to me in hospital and fearing for their life. 

But here, I propose a measure that can form part of the solution. We know that the government has procured a vast number of shots that can vaccinate the UK population several times over. Currently those eligible for a booster is similar to those who were in first in line to receive the vaccine following its roll-out; the clinical vulnerable and those over a certain age – in this case the over 50s, and then over 40s – as well as those working in the clinical and social care setting.

I feel a larger scale roll-out of antibody testing is needed to allow the population the opportunity to regularly test their levels of immunity, whether this be via clinical appointments (remote or otherwise) or home testing in a similar way we can obtain lateral flow tests for the virus. Surely this is something that the public can get on board with in a bid for normal life and little disruption?

This would allow for us to account for the differing levels of immunity within the population, regardless of age and if people are immunosuppressed, targeting those who are most in need of a third vaccination – therefore helping drive down transmission. Currently we have a policy that could see vaccinations being unused. To avoid that happening, I am somewhat sympathetic for a temporary measure of asking people to come forward for a third jab once a threshold of the priority groups have been vaccinated anyway.

Vaccinations have rightly been billed as a weapon for us all to return to normal in a worry-free environment, but that can only be done if more pragmatic measures run in parallel.