Written question asked by Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 4 November 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 November 2021. It was answered by Maggie Throup (Conservative) on Tuesday, 21 December 2021 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Coronavirus: Screening

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of recognising positive results from antibody testing as proof of natural immunity, particularly for the purposes of acquiring an NHS covid pass.

Answer: No formal assessment has been made. Currently, the duration of the body’s antibody response to coronavirus remains unknown, and there is no guarantee that an individual cannot transmit the virus to others post-infection. Immune protection may weaken depending on the time elapsed since infection, and antibody tests alone do not indicate when a person was infected. For this reason, recovered status in the National Health Service COVID Pass is acquired through a positive Polymerase Chain Reaction test and not an antibody test.

Secondary information