State Health Officials, Local Lab To Begin Antibody Testing For Coronavirus This Week

Antibody testing begins this week and will help determine how many Oklahomans have had COVID-19, even if they didn’t know it.

That’s according to the governor and a local lab that developed a test.

Gov. Kevin Stitt said this information will provide key data in determining when Oklahomans can get back to work.

At IMMY labs in Norman, their CEO said they finished up validation over the weekend for their COVID-19 antibody test and started taking in their first blood samples on Monday.

“This has been an ongoing, fast-paced effort for a lot of people involved,” said IMMY CEO Sean Beuman.

The tests will identify those who has already had the virus which is important because doctors think the antibody can protect you from an infection if you are exposed again.

“That allows us to identify people who have been exposed but may be asymptomatic or have very mild disease and that gives us a percentage of the entire population that is still susceptible or no longer susceptible,” said Dr. James Papin, a virologist with the OU Health Sciences Center. “That information will go a long way in going to decide when to start or reopen society you might say or return to life as normal.”

The governor toured IMMY’s lab earlier this month. He said state health officials plan to randomly select 1,000 Oklahomans to test so statisticians can start to determine how many Oklahomans may already have developed an immunity to the virus.

“That is going to be a game-changer for Oklahoma and the nation,” Stitt told reporters on Friday.

IMMY said initially they will be able to run 1,000 to 2,000 tests a day will the ability to ramp up to 5,000 to 6,000 in the very near future. 

Ideally, medical facilities or businesses could test all of their workforce to determine who can come back to work and who is likely safer on the frontlines.

“I think this test is going to be in high demand,” Beuman said. “Lots of people want to know the results and we want to be ready to answer the call.”

IMMY said they only run the tests and they can’t collect the blood samples. That will have to be done at a clinic or hospital. Right now, they are working on those partnerships.