COVID antibodies test is coming soon where I live. Is it worth paying $400?

[La lamy]

I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?

[Dan9871]

LabCorp says an antibody test will cost you $10. You will need a doctor's order to get it.

https://www.labcorp.com/antibody-testing




I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?

[leftyf]

If you donate blood at Oneblood, you get the test for free. I am a Platelet donor and get tested every 2 weeks. Been tested 3 times now and has been negative every time.

[starflyte1]

Ask your Doctor to order the blood test. Insurance pays for it.

[coffeebean]

If you donate blood at Oneblood, you get the test for free. I am a Platelet donor and get tested every 2 weeks. Been tested 3 times now and has been negative every time.

Are you being tested for active virus or for antibodies?

[chet2020]

I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?

The best kit for antibodies IMO is the Roche kit. LabCorp uses the Roche kit for it's antibody testing. It's not an at-home test, you have to visit a LabCorp facility, but they have a lot of facilities nationwide. Your insurance may cover some or all of the cost. I thought the test was $119 if you had to pay for it yourself, but I can't find confirmation of that on a quick search. Please update us if you follow through with the test, I'm interested.

https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/labcorp-newsroom/roche-highly-accurate-antibody-test-covid-19-goes-live-more-20-initial

[ALadysMom]

The best kit for antibodies IMO is the Roche kit. LabCorp uses the Roche kit for it's antibody testing. It's not an at-home test, you have to visit a LabCorp facility, but they have a lot of facilities nationwide. Your insurance may cover some or all of the cost. I thought the test was $119 if you had to pay for it yourself, but I can't find confirmation of that on a quick search. Please update us if you follow through with the test, I'm interested.

https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/labcorp-newsroom/roche-highly-accurate-antibody-test-covid-19-goes-live-more-20-initial

Thanks for posting that link but it is dated recently (May 19) and says they have only had 20 sites so that may not be available thru LabCorp?

[Dan9871]

See https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/1788147-post2.html

[asianthree]

OP where did u get $400 price tag.

[drgoofy]

So far, from what I've read, they're fairly unreliable. Quest in The Villages was offering them for around $200. I, too, had a free test when I donated with OneBlood. Probably not worth paying $400.

[Girlcopper]

I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?

$400?? I dont know where you live but insurance covers this plus many drive up testing sites are free

[Dendrn]

I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?
My husband and I both got one, against advice of our Illinois doctors who said they are unreliable. We were SURE my husband had COVID and wanted to donate plasma if so. We were told tests negative. I got copy of report. Quest cannot find my husband's test. We had test when Lake County offered for $85/$20 for residents. Many places do for $85, do not pay $400! I think too many labs have unreliable tests and are in it for the money. Wish we waited for one of approved test. Too many labs develop tests that are NOT government approved.

[leeannske]

I got a free to me antibody test at 441 Urgent Care on 44. I did have a doctor's order to get it. As previously mentioned, they are not reliable at this point. Whoever is charging $400 is ripping you off.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

To answer the original question, the answer is no. Why? to answer this question, you have to ask yourself what are you going to do with the information? If you want to donate plasma, then yes. However, if your test is positive, do you believe that you can't get it again? the virus is new, so the value of the antibodies is unknown. If no are you going to change your lifestyle? or your viewpoint as a google expert just because you think you might have had the virus? of the people to whom I have spoken who have had the virus, there is no mistaken that they had it. One person said that he was so tired that after being awake for 4 hours after lunch that he fell asleep on the couch for another 4 hours for being exhausted. He lost his vision for awhile when his blood pressure crashed. His wife is a long time nurse who spread it to him.

anybody can be wrong, but trained and practicing doctors are much less likely to be wrong than google searching couch posers. So if you talk with the medical community on the front lines, of which i have a wife and family members, we haven't beaten the virus yet. The odds of survival are improved, but then there is the unknown future effects which have not yet been seen. . . and there will be some. . . . we just haven't even thought about that stage yet.

sportsguy

[alncon2]

I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?

If you are interested in being tested for COVID-19 with a highly sensitive and specific test the one offered by Roche has been given EUA approval by the FDA. EUA stands for, "Emergency Use Authorization". This test is covered by insurance as long a your physician prescribes testing. Since it has been developed by Roche and Labcorp is a devision of Roche it is certainly available through them but may also be available at Quest. If you generally go for blood testing at Quest just call to confirm. Here is the link if you wish to read about the test offered at Labcorp.

Roche - Roche’s COVID-19 antibody test receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization and is available in markets accepting the CE mark (https://www.roche.com/media/releases/med-cor-2020-05-03.htm)

[La lamy]

OP where did u get $400 price tag.

I'm in Canada right now. Our universal healthcare won't pay for it I heard. I don't have insurance.

[rmd2]

My husband and I both got one, against advice of our Illinois doctors who said they are unreliable. We were SURE my husband had COVID and wanted to donate plasma if so. We were told tests negative. I got copy of report. Quest cannot find my husband's test. We had test when Lake County offered for $85/$20 for residents. Many places do for $85, do not pay $400! I think too many labs have unreliable tests and are in it for the money. Wish we waited for one of approved test. Too many labs develop tests that are NOT government approved.

My sister who is a nurse in AZ said her doctor told her the test was 50% unreliable.

[Kathryn Putt]

If you donate blood @One Blood, they do free antibody testing. And you are doing a good thing to help the sick & injured😍

[MOMOH]

I, too, thought I had had COVID, and when the Quest test came out for $119 I went for it. I got the results with a caveat that the test had not been reviewed by the FDA and had a good chance of being inaccurate, and if I still thought I had it, I should get a molecular type test. Before you spend any money, make sure that the test has the best chance to be accurate.

[Dbrn924]

Quest labs in Brownwood quoted $110

[djp192]

Let me get this straight you left the villages in March this is June which is 12 weeks and you think you have the virus , kind of hard to believe .

[TerriCharles]

I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?

If you make an appointment with One Blood to donate a pint of blood - they do the covid antibody test for free.

[JulieER]

Be aware that even if you DO have any antibodies, since you had “mild” symptoms, those antibodies aren’t as strong as someone’s who was seriously ill. No one knows how long those antibodies stay in your body, but a mild case would afford little or no future protection.

[phylt]

Oneblood.org offers free antibody testing if you donate blood (at least they did when I donated 2 weeks ago).

[Suzieque]

Let me get this straight you left the villages in March this is June which is 12 weeks and you think you have the virus , kind of hard to believe .

Re-read his post. He feels that he already had it.

[Keeferinspace]

The best kit for antibodies IMO is the Roche kit. LabCorp uses the Roche kit for it's antibody testing. It's not an at-home test, you have to visit a LabCorp facility, but they have a lot of facilities nationwide. Your insurance may cover some or all of the cost. I thought the test was $119 if you had to pay for it yourself, but I can't find confirmation of that on a quick search. Please update us if you follow through with the test, I'm interested.

https://www.labcorp.com/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/labcorp-newsroom/roche-highly-accurate-antibody-test-covid-19-goes-live-more-20-initial

I too thought I had COVID-19 In January. My illness checked every box of known symptoms. I was out for about 5 to 6 weeks. Recovered. Always wondered whether it was indeed Covid or not. Since we just arrived in The Villages in April and have no doctor I was able to go online and order an antibody test from Quest labs. The total came to $129. They have facilities all over. You can choose the location near you to have blood drawn. It was worth the peace of mind. Unfortunately, I was hoping for a positive but the test came back negative. I’m still not convinced it wasn’t COVID 19.

[IvorT]

Everything I’ve read, gives the impression that immunity is not long term. So you won’t know when it expires. Also, if you are positive, what change will it make to your life. You still can’t fly around the world. You could still be run over by a golf cart. If mask wearing becomes the norm, then you might get stoned to death for being the one person who wasn’t wearing a mask.

[yankygrl]

I feel I may have had minor symptoms of COVID after I returned home from TV in March. I'm curious if I did, and would feel good knowing I was able to fight this terrible virus, but is it worth dishing out $400 for it?
Free testing in Sumter County - with or without symptoms via nasal swab. it is to see if you have COVID NOT antibodies.

[airdale2]

The county has been doing this testing at different places each day for a price of $20. Contact the county.

[chet2020]

My sister who is a nurse in AZ said her doctor told her the test was 50% unreliable.

At the beginning of the outbreak, it was thought the best way to get a lot of test kits on the market was to open the market with little to no FDA approval process. All you had to do was register the kit with the FDA, and then you could sell it. This led to over 160 test kits being marketed, many of which were bad science, and some that were total scams.

After a couple of months of this, the FDA started clamping down. There are now 21 test kits that have received further FDA review and are at least "decent." These tests are on the FDA website page linked below.

If you go in for an antibody test, ASK WHICH TEST THE PROVIDER IS USING. If they can't tell you, don't go there. There are still a lot of crappy kits floating around. If the test is on the attached list, go for it. As mentioned in a prior post, the Roche kit has the best metrics IMO but others are also reasonably good.

P.S. Quest is using kits from Abbott, Ortho, and Euroimmun, all are on the FDA EUA list below.


EUA Authorized Serology Test Performance | FDA (https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/emergency-situations-medical-devices/eua-authorized-serology-test-performance)

[chet2020]

Thanks for posting that link but it is dated recently (May 19) and says they have only had 20 sites so that may not be available thru LabCorp?

Quest and LabCorp are two of the big players in this. Both are using legit testing kits. I went to both websites, and through sheer stubbornness (neither one makes it easy to navigate), I was able to find the testing locations nearest me for both.

LabCorp seems to work mostly through Walgreen stores. The easiest thing to do there would be to call your local Walgreen's and see if you can get the test there. Quest's site is a bit more friendly, and you can likely find the nearest Quest testing facility on the website.

Apologies for not being more helpful. I am more interested in the science behind the tests than the roll-out/distribution programs even though the latter is important.

[tophcfa]

I am hoping that since my wife and I pay close to $2,000 a month in health insurance premiums, insurance would cover the test.

[Jacob85]

It sounds like a scam to me. I would be sure who is doing it and if it’s legitimate