What If Your COVID Vaccine Didn’t Work?
Some interesting info about COVID antibody tests after vaccination.
I have a coaching client who was concerned about her risk of COVID. She has autoimmune Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and had the two Moderna vaccines in spring of 2021. She wants to go back to work, without risk of infecting her family at home, some of whom are high-risk. She decided to have an antibodies test, to determine if she had immunity. Her SARS-CoV-2 antibody test was negative, so she was understandably worried that she might have not gotten immunity after her two vaccines.
While various medical resources state that the antibody test will show whether or not you have developed antibodies to COVID-19 after exposure or vaccination, the test is not usually recommended to evaluate immunity after COVID-19 vaccination. (It’s primarily useful to detect past COVID infection itself, but even then, it’s not definitive. You could have had COVID, but still not test positive for antibodies.)
(See: https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/safety-communications/antibody-testing-not-currently-recommended-assess-immunity-after-covid-19-vaccination-fda-safety for an FDA discussion of the antibody test.)
Her doctor recommended retesting, but was going to order the same test again. My client is a truly empowered patient (I LOVE working with clients like this!) and before we even had our first coaching session, she had done her homework well, and asked the doctor for a SARS-COV-2 AB (IGG) Spike Protein Test.
(Here is the test listing at Labcorp: https://www.labcorp.com/tests/164055/sars-cov-2-antibody-igg-spike. )
THIS test can show whether you’ve had an immune response to the vaccine. The reference range for this test is “less than or = 1.00” means that you are “negative” — no immunity.
Good news: Her test showed a significant, double-digit response! So her vaccines did work!
More good news: COVID antibody tests — including the Spike Protein Test — are currently free, and covered by the US government’s COVID program. (Doctor visits aren’t free, but the lab tests are.)
A note: If you’re on immunosuppressant drugs, or have a primary immunodeficiency — which Hashimoto’s and Graves’ are NOT generally characterized as immunodeficiency, FYI — you may fall into the category of people who don’t develop full or sufficient protection after COVID vaccines. If you’re concerned, here are some recommendations:
- Ask for the SARS-COV-2 AB (IGG) Spike Protein Test.
If that test is also negative…
2. Discuss with your doctor whether you are a candidate for a third booster dose, and/or a monoclonal antibody infusion. (And keep wearing a mask in public, social distancing, and being extra careful. The Delta variant is out there and spreading fast.)
The New York Times had a good piece on this on Sunday, 7/4, at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/04/health/coronavirus-immunity-vaccines.html that’s worth a read.
Stay healthy everyone, so you can feel and live well!
Mary
Originally published at https://hormones.substack.com.
