Israel Conducts Large-Scale Antibody Testing for COVID-19

Enables confirmation of herd immunity or a second wave

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jaehee] Israel is conducting a large-scale antibody test for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 6th (local time), Israeli health authorities will conduct COVID-19 antibody diagnostic tests on a total of 100,000 people at designated medical institutions nationwide within 1 to 2 weeks.

The authorities plan to conduct COVID-19 antibody tests with the consent of citizens undergoing blood tests at medical institutions. In particular, more intensive testing will be conducted in areas with many healthcare workers or confirmed cases.

For this COVID-19 antibody testing, Israel purchased a total of 2.4 million antibody diagnostic reagents from Abbott Laboratories in the United States, which received emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and DiaSorin from Italy, for 40 million dollars (about 500 billion won).

The COVID-19 antibody test detects immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin G (IgG), antibodies formed by the body's immune response. Blood from people currently infected or recovered from infection shows positive results in the antibody test.

Israeli health authorities plan to use the large-scale antibody testing to determine the proportion of the total population exposed to COVID-19, using it as a basis to assess the possibility of 'herd immunity' and the scale of the 'second wave' expected this fall.

The authorities anticipate two scenarios based on the antibody test results. The first scenario is that 10% of the Israeli population has been exposed and recovered. If the second wave this fall proceeds on a scale similar to the first wave, the estimated number of patients requiring intensive care unit treatment is about 2,300. This is within the capacity of the current Israeli healthcare system. There is also high expectation that if people have been exposed to the virus and recovered, the antibody formation rate will be high, leading to herd immunity.

However, in a pessimistic scenario where the antibody formation rate is only 1%, the number of patients worsening to critical condition is expected to be around 12,000.

Of course, even if antibodies are formed after more than 10% of the population is exposed to the virus, it is uncertain whether they have protective immunity.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that the protective effect and duration of antibodies formed after COVID-19 infection are uncertain, urging careful interpretation of antibody test results.

Furthermore, if the antibody formation rate is high, Health Minister Moshe Bar Simantov emphasized that lockdown measures such as movement restrictions and business limitations could be eased early.

Meanwhile, as of today, the number of COVID-19 deaths in Israel is reported to be 239.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.