Antibody test after Covid vaccine

I'd advise any UCer vaccinated with 2 Pfizers or 2 Modernas NOT to panic over antibody tests at this point. Recently I did hear Professor Wafaa El-Sadr, chief epidemiologist at Columbia University Medical Center in NY, say during a faculty/staff Webinar that no firm evidence is yet available RE post-vaccine antibody levels and need for booster shots. She stated that reliable conclusions on that may not come 'til the end of this year! So try to stay calm and keep avoiding crowds especially if you live in areas where masking & social-distancing were not taken seriously. The main medical concern now seems to be spread of the Delta-variant of COVID-19, the one that evolved in India. UK & Israel are taking it seriously & requiring people to mask up again even if vaccinated. I live in NYC, where we are still required to mask up on mass transit, in medical offices, and in many supermarkets and shops, also in large apt. bldgs. Not a big deal for most of us; we got used to it by May 2020. A satire published in 6/21 New Yorker magazine says that we in NY now feel naked if our lower face goes uncovered, LOL! / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC)

I was just reading a study out of England. They have trialed 3 doses of Pfizer on organ transplant patients. Adding a 3rd dose increased the percentage of people responding to the vaccine and increased the antibody levels of those who did respond after the 2nd. Maybe that would be a question to ask doctors. Here is the study. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2108861

Post Edited (Twingirls) : 6/27/2021 11:24:05 AM (GMT-6)

I live in Pennsylvania and they just removed all restrictions and mask requirements (except on public transportation). I get that everyone is tired of this, but worry that we are going to have a rise in cases because other than the old and at risk people, vaccination rates are lower than 50%. The old and at risk people are 80-90% vaccinated.

Clo, sorry you don't have a response, but you have made it so far without getting Covid. Keep doing what you have been.

Stay safe everyone!

How long does it take to get your results after the test? I made an appointment with LabCorps for July 6 because I will be in that area again for a colo-rectal surgeon appointment. Sorry if the timeline has already been mentioned here. I don't want to re-read all 3 pages, lol.

CC, that’s great! I hope they can bring you in to their study!
I wonder what their threshold is for a “good” response. I didn’t feel overly pleased with my results but at least it was in the 30’s.

I am going to see my general practitioner in a week and I am going to talk to her about the actual test. I wonder what range people who are not on immunosuppressive meds had. They should have studied the test on “normal people” 1st. I wonder why UNC picked the ranges for their bar graph. I saw the graph when it only had about 47 people’s results and it’s always been those ranges. Why is the last range 30 and up. Did most non suppressed people get in the 30 to 40 range.

Is there a test that measures T Cells? The antibody test may not be accurate.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-brief-fda-advises-against-use-sars-cov-2-antibody-test-results-evaluate-immunity-or-protection

”The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a safety communication informing the public that results from SARS-CoV-2 antibody tests should not be used to evaluate immunity or protection from COVID-19 at any time, and especially after the person received a COVID-19 vaccination.”

It's all very confusing. :/

USA Today has an updated report on Pfizer booster shot development/testing that says, per studies ongoing at the Institut Pasteur in Paris + at Bio-N-Tech, that a 3rd vaccine shot may be advisable 6 months after the 2nd to boost antibodies. Presently they think 2nd shot confers good protection against "Delta variant" for several months at least, but, even in patients recovered from COVID-19 infection, major antibody loss shows after 1 yr interval. (Which jells with what 3TimeChamp learned from his antibody test a couple months back then posted here on the forum.) It's important for immune-suppressed people not to panic over the antibody question, but to avoid places where indoor air transmission of the virus would still be possible. That's the most likely source of COVID infection at this point in USA. I also heard another Webinar report from NY epidemiologist Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr last week, where she commented that the vaccine testing results continue to be "encouraging"-- so persons already vaccinated have good reason to stay positive. / Old Hat (40+ yrs with left-sided UC; in remission taking Colazal)

I still haven't received my results. I got the labwork done on July 6. Should I be reaching out to the UNC study coordinators? Edit: I emailed them and they said they will send me the results in a "secure email" later today.

It took around 2 weeks to get my secure message with my results. Hopefully you will get them soon.

Twin girls, my gi said that he wanted to wait for the Cdc to rule in a 3rd shot. I teach in college so I feel you on going back to work. We are masks optional because all students are required to be vaccinated but they are not requiring faculty or staff to be vaccinated. I’m hoping to keep windows open when I teach no matter what the weather, we dont have ac in my building and our heat is radiant so no air filtration.

I created a LabCorps account (thanks again!) and see my results. My result is 10. So, I guess that's good? Sounds a lot lower than what some of you all got though.