Superdrug has become the first high street retailer to sell a coronavirus antibody test to the public for £69 with almost 100 per cent accuracy.
The test is produced by medical giant Abbott, which was the second antibody test approved by ministers this month after that made by Roche.
Blood samples have to be posted to a laboratory where results are turned around in 24 hours.
Therefore it isn’t the ‘DIY’ home testing kit Britons have long pined for where results are almost instant.
Ministers have promised ‘pregnancy-test’ style kits since March but none have been approved yet.
Antibodies are a sign someone has already fought the killer infection. But scientists are still unsure whether this means they are protected from catching the virus again.
Therefore, some say there is ‘no point’ spending money on a test like Superdrug’s because it is still not clear what the results mean.
For this reason, Superdrug said individuals will need to continue social distancing and following Government guidance even if their result is positive.
Superdrug has become the first high street retailer to sell a coronavirus antibody test to the public for £69 with almost 100 per cent accuracy
The test is produced by medical giant Abbott and has been given the seal of approval by Public Health England
Superdrug started selling the kit this morning on its Online Doctor service for £69, but said it isn’t available in store.
It requires a few drops of blood collected by a finger prick taken at home.
Michael Henry, Superdrug’s Healthcare Director, said he is ‘confident’ it is accurate and reliability.
It was the second antibody test to be ratified as accurate by Public Health England, and is already on sale privately for the same price on Babylon.
The test is 97.5 per cent sensitive, which means just over 97 people in 100 who test positive have indeed been infected.
The other three people, however, would get an inaccurate result – known as a false negative result. They will be told they do not have antibodies when in fact they do.
The test has 100 per cent specificity, which means it will never generate a ‘false positive’ result – when people are incorrectly led to believe they have antibodies.
Experts say is it better to compromise on sensitivity than specificity, because ‘false negatives’ can have dangerous consequences.
However, commenting on the test, Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: ‘This seems rather a strong claim since to be absolutely sure (“never”), an infinite number of people will have to have been tested.’
Will Irving, a professor of Virology, University of Nottingham, said although it is reassuring claims test to be very accurate, it depends entirely on how the company came to that conslusion.
He said: ‘The sensitivity data will be dependent on what kind of serum samples have been tested. If these are mostly – or all – from hospitalised patients, then the figure may be an overestimate, as there are data suggesting that individuals who don’t become very ill with COVID-19 may not make very high levels of antibody.
‘The same is true of specificity.’
The blood sample is sent off to laboratory in a pre-paid envelope and the results come back 24 hours after it arrives there.
Anyone over the age of 18 can get the test. But if a person has symptoms of the virus, they will need to wait at least 14 days because it takes a while for readable antibodies to be present in the blood.
Superdrug doctor ambassador, Dr Zoe Williams, made clear the new test does not confirm someone is safe to go back to work or mingle in society.
She said: ‘There are however things to consider before taking it.
‘Receiving a positive antibody test result does not confer immunity, and it is important that people understand a positive test result does not mean you can be any more relaxed with the required hygiene and social distancing measures as set out by the government.’
Ministers are in talks with Roche to buy millions of the tests, which will be given to NHS and social care workers for free. The Roche test, called Elecsys (pictured), is also not designed to give people a result in the comfort of their own home.
Medical giant Abbott has produced a test which is essentially the same as the antibody test announced by the Government last week, manufactured by Swiss firm Roche.
Scientists have rallied to remind the public that various antibody tests being brought out online are a gamble.
Professor Gino Martini, Royal Pharmaceutical Society Chief Scientific Officer, said: ‘Any antibody test at present can only provide a partial picture.
‘The real issue is that no-one knows the level of immunity that is conferred by having antibodies to coronavirus, how long it might last, and if you can become re-infected.
‘We need much more information and data on immunity before we can understand the importance of having antibodies to the virus.’
Adam Finn, a professor of paediatrics, University of Bristol, said: ‘Even a true positive result, showing real antibody response to SARS-CoV-2, may not mean that a person is completely immune to the infection and at no risk of re-infection and of infecting others.
‘We hope that immunity following previous infection will be fully protective in this way, but we are not yet sure.
‘All of this complicated information is important.’
Professor Finn, who is also in the field of developing an antibody test for COVID-19, said until the science is clear, there is no point spending money on an antibody test.
‘Until we know how strong and long lasting immunity is after infection, it is hard to know what to do about the results of these tests, even if the tests are reliable,’ he said.
‘So the bottom line is: don’t spend money and time on any test unless you have a very clear idea of what the result does or does not mean for you and what you are going to do or not do if you get a positive or negative result.
‘If the answer is that the result is not going to change what you do because you can’t be sure what it means, then there’s no point in doing the test.’
The test has a CE mark, which means it is legal to market it, and claims to be approved by Public Health England.
It is essentially the same as the antibody test announced by the Government last week, manufactured by Swiss firm Roche.
Ministers are in talks with Roche to buy millions of the tests, which will be given to NHS and social care workers for free. It is not clear if they will ever be given to the public.
The Roche test, called Elecsys, is also not designed to give people a result in the comfort of their own home.
PHE have been looking for an immunoassay test, which is a finger-prick tests that generates results in minutes at home, since ministers promised one back in March.
The results are displayed like a pregnancy stick and don’t need the help of a laboratory of doctor.
Such a test was touted as the key to lifting lockdowns because it would mean people could buy a test quickly online, find out if they have had the virus and return to work or not.
But progress has been halted because scientists have warned it’s still to early for them to know what the antibodies show, exactly.
PHE also have an extremely high threshold for accuracy of the test. There are hundreds of companies designing these tests, but so far, none tested by an Oxford University team have passed stringent protocol.