Scientists believe that COVID-19 antibodies develop within 1 to 3 weeks after infection. Antibodies are the proteins your body produces in response to an infection, and lab tests will detect these antibodies if your body fought that pathogen. A positive antibody test for COVID-19 means that you were infected with SARS-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19 whether you had symptoms or not.
Titer blood tests measure antibodies in your blood, and they can be used as proof of immunity to a disease. This is why proof of a prior diagnosis with measles, mumps, or chickenpox is allowed for a child to be enrolled in a U.S. public school. If the child has the antibodies, then proof of vaccination is unnecessary.
However, the FDA issued a safety warning about COVID-19 in May 2021. It warned the public and health care providers not to use SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests to gauge immunity, especially with people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
FDA Recommends not using antibody test to determine COVID-19 immunity
In this communication, the FDA stated, “results from currently authorized SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests should not be used to evaluate a person’s level of immunity or protection from COVID-19 at any time, and especially after the person received a COVID-19 vaccination.”
They further state, ““more research is needed in people who have received a COVID-19 vaccination.” The SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests haven’t been studied to determine the level of protection they confer on people who have received the vaccine. The FDA also stated that a positive antibody test doesn’t prove immunity, only that you were possibly infected by the virus.
“A COVID-19 vaccination may also cause a positive antibody test result for some but not all antibody tests. You should not interpret the results of your SARS-CoV-2 antibody test as an indication of a specific level of immunity or protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
COVID vaccines generate antibodies to the spike protein
The basis for these concerns is the difference in the immune responses created by the vaccine versus a natural infection of the virus. The mRNA vaccines, like those by Moderna and Pfizer, generate antibodies to the spike protein. Natural infection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus results in nucleocapsid proteins, which is what the antibody test will detect.
So, individuals who have received the vaccine but have not been naturally infected will produce a negative antibody test result. The antibody blood test doesn’t determine if an individual has had the vaccine, nor does it determine if an individual has had a previous natural infection.
The concern is whether the FDA released this report as a fear driver to address the slow down in people getting vaccinated and to push back about negative press about the vaccines.
Red cross seeks COVID plasma from unvaccinated people
Over 100,000 Americans have been treated with COVID-19 convalescent plasma, aka survivor’s plasma, because it contains the antibodies to the virus and lessens the progression of the symptoms in certain older adults. This treatment has also been linked to a lower risk of death in nonventilated patients versus a transfusion with plasma that has lower antibody levels. The Red Cross accepts donations for COVID-19 convalescent plasma, but only from individuals who have not had a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Red Cross has not explained its actions. However, the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) released a statement after the FDA revised its guideline on who can donate convalescent plasma.
“With two vaccines authorized for emergency use in the U.S. and others in clinical development, FDA says that convalescent plasma should not be collected from individuals who received an investigational COVID-19 vaccine in a clinical trial or who received an authorized or licensed COVID-19 vaccine unless they meet specific criteria detailed in the guidance,” RAPS says.
In order to donate convalescent plasma, the FDA stated that vaccine recipients must have had COVID-19 symptoms in addition to a positive antibody test result. Plus, they had to be symptom-free for 6 months. This is to ensure that the plasma has sufficient antibodies directly related to their immune response from a natural COVID-19 infection.
Prior to issuing emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, the FDA warned against collecting convalescent plasma from people who had received the vaccine in a clinical trial “because of the uncertainty regarding the quality of the immune response produced by such investigational vaccines.”
Problems with antibody tests
Considerable problems exist with the COVID-19 antibody tests. Many will produce false positives by detecting antibodies to the common cold virus. Seven different viruses cause respiratory illness in humans. Three of these cause more serious respiratory illnesses: SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2.
The antibodies are very similar. Thus a common cold can result in a positive antibody test for COVID-19. The CDC stated, “A positive test result shows you may have antibodies from an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. However, there is a chance that a positive result means you have antibodies from an infection with a different virus from the same family of viruses (called coronaviruses).”
Vaccine risks for people who’ve had COVID
An international study of over 2,000 individuals who had the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine found that those who had previously had a COVID-19 infection had more severe side effects from that vaccine. This included side effects such as:
- Fever
- Breathlessness
- Flu-like illness
- Fatigue
- Local reactions
- Severe side effects leading to hospital care
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines produced higher rates of side effects, although milder symptoms, than the viral vector-based COVID-19 vaccines. Severe reactions like anaphylaxis, flu-like illness, and breathlessness, occur more frequently with the viral vector COVID-19 vaccines.
Some scientists and medical doctors are calling on health officials to revise their vaccine recommendations for people who had a natural COVID-19 infection. However, the CDC has not done so and still recommends the vaccine for individuals who have recovered from the illness. They point to viral antigens that remain in the body after a natural infection. Thus, the immune response reactivated by a COVID-19 vaccine may result in inflammation in tissue where the antigens are located. Screening for SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins may be an important test prior to receiving the vaccination.
What about a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine?
The mainstream media continue to publish what many scientists believe is a fake narrative – that the immunity acquired by a natural infection with SARS-CoV-2 isn’t as protective as the vaccine-acquired immunity.
This is because Dr. Fauci stated that a booster vaccine is likely. “I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so, after getting the primary [shot],” he said, “because the durability of protection against coronaviruses is generally not lifelong.”
Pfizer’s CEO Albert Bourla has also stated that not only will people need a third booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine within 12 months of being fully vaccinated, but annual vaccination will probably be necessary.
A vigorous natural immunity has been shown for at least 8 months after a natural infection in over 95% of individuals who have recovered from COVID-19. A Nature study also demonstrated vigorous natural immunity in people who recovered from SARS and SARS-CoV-2, while additional data show patients who were infected with COVID-19 develop an immune response that could protect them for years.