Cole County waives fees for rapid COVID-19 antibody tests
COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Cole County Commission voted to waive rapid antibody test fees at the Cole County Health Department during a meeting Tuesday morning.
In Missouri the demand for antibody or serology tests has been steadily increasing, despite remaining well below last April's peak demand. During the week of July 25, the total number of antibody tests surpassed 2,000 and it has remained above 2,000 ever since.
Cole County Health Department Director Kristi Campbell said many people have been requesting the antibody tests to find out whether they are protected against COVID-19.
"A lot of people want to know if they've had the infection in the past," Campbell said during the meeting. "Some people that have received the vaccine want to have a test to see if their bodies have built an immune response."
CCHD was previously charging $20 per rapid antibody test. This type of test takes approximately 20 minutes to produce results, which show whether an individual has recently been infected.
Rapid antibody tests will now be free at CCHD, regardless of whether a person is a resident of Cole County or not. They are offered each day on a walk-in basis.
"We've got a lot of rescue money to burn, almost," Western District Commissioner Harry Otto said in the discussion. "This is a good place to spend some of that money."
All three Cole County Commissioners voted in favor of the waived fee. The approval did not specify from where the funds will come.
A more in-depth antibody test option is a blood draw, which can show an individual's viral load and requires a doctor's order. The cost for this option will remain $69 at CCHD.
However, the FDA said antibody testing is not 100% accurate, and there may be false-negative or false-positive results. If accurate results are positive, the antibody test indicates you have been infected with COVID-19 in the past and that you have some immunity to the virus.
Even so, health officials are still recommending the vaccine to create and build antibodies.
According to the CDC, antibody test results should not be used to diagnose someone with an active infection. If you receive a positive antibody test result but don’t have symptoms of COVID-19 and have not been around someone who may have COVID-19 you are not likely to have a current infection.
Antibodies usually start developing within 1 to 3 weeks after infection. The CDC said it does not have enough information yet to say how protected someone might be from being infected again if they have antibodies to the virus.
"The CDC has a little bit of conflicting information on their website. . ." Campbell said. "In one place it talks about if someone has had the vaccine or if they have had a recent infection within 90 days or they can show an antibody test, they don't have to quarantine."
