As of July 2021, statistics have shown that approximately 177 million have recovered from COVID-19, and 3.2 billion vaccines in total have been administered. COVID-19 has become an inevitable part of the lives of people worldwide. After nearly 2 years of lockdowns and restrictions, with people developing protective antibodies against the virus, the transition to the new normal has begun. One of the ways that experts have suggested for the transition to normal life is vaccine passports.
A vaccine passport, also known as an immunity passport, is a document issued by the health facilities showing that the individual has been infected with the virus and has recovered or has been vaccinated, developing immunity to the virus and allows the individual to travel internationally without further requirements for quarantine or PCR tests, socialize and go to movies, theaters or restaurants.
Although whether the vaccine passports would decrease or increase the transmission rate is still a topic of discussion, many see this as a tool that would smooth the path for transition from restrictions to normal life.
As some countries require vaccination documentation, some countries also accept a document certifying that the individual has recovered from COVID-19 in the past 6 months or less. As more countries are planning on implementing this system, some experts suggest that an antibody test for the vaccine passports may be a safer option as the efficacy of some of the vaccines is not clear, and the duration of the antibodies’ persistence in the human system varies for each individual. Another reason for the antibody testing requirement is the result obtained from a study conducted by WHO indicating that some people have very low levels of neutralizing antibodies in their blood, which is not entirely considered safe for travel or other socialization activities.
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) defines an antibody test as a test that looks for antibodies in the individual’s blood against the virus. Antibodies are the proteins that fight against infections and are created by the individual’s immune system. Antibody tests are not used for the diagnosis of the current infection, but instead, they are used for the detection of a possible immunity against the virus since it takes approximately one to three weeks for the immune system to produce antibodies.
What Does POC (Point Of Care) Testing Mean?
Point of care (POC) testing is medical testing that is performed outside of a laboratory setting. POC testing is also known as bedside testing, near-patient testing, remote testing, mobile testing, and rapid diagnostics. The POC tests have proven to be extremely useful, especially in terms of speed and usability.
Does POC Testing (Point Of Care) Save Money or Cost More?
POC diagnostic devices should be selected and purchased based on the type of test performed. But in terms of pricing, although it usually depends on the accuracy and sensitivity of POC testing products, the lab-accurate and connected GENZPRO ELISA-based POC testing platform aims to be more affordable than its peers.
There are different techniques for antibody screening as ELISA, lateral flow, or point of care (rapid test). GENZPRO POC testing technology offers a microfluidic immunoassay for the quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in whole human blood or serum to indicate recent or prior infection for the antibody screening. The test chip technology combines the accuracy and quantitative detection properties of ELISA and the rapidness of point of care technologies, delivering the results in 7 minutes using a cloud-based platform that is integrated with the health system networks and transfers patient data using the GENZPRO POC device. The test takes 14 minutes in total and gives quantitative results. GENZPRO is the first and only point of care antibody testing technology that utilizes the ELISA technique, making its accuracy superior to the other rapid antibody tests, which can give inaccurate results frequently.
Contact us to get detailed information about GENZPRO and request a demo.
References:
– Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. (2020). What do immunity passports and vaccination certificates mean for COVID-19 restrictions? https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/what-do-immunity-passports-and-vaccination-certificates-mean-covid-19-restrictions
– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Using Antibody Tests. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/resources/antibody-tests.html
– Bacchi, U. (2021). Coronavirus vaccine passports: everything you need to know. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/coronavirus-covid19-vaccine-passports-travel/
– Meneguzzi, J. (2020). Will you need an ‘immunity passport’ to travel? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200831-coronavirus-will-you-need-an-immunity-passport-to-travel