Lincoln Urgent Care One Of The First In Area To Offer Rapid Coronavirus Antibody Testing
LINCOLN (CBS13) — Lincoln Urgent Care is one of the facilities in the Sacramento area to offer coronavirus antibody testing for patients.
"People just want to know and we want to know as well. We want to know what prevalences there are in our community," Owner and physician Doctor Eric Ellis said.
These tests check to see if someone has one of two antibodies for the virus by a finger prick test similar to a diabetic's sugar level test. The tests have to have a certain amount of specificity to be considered accurate rapid antibody tests.
Ellis said people who've had symptoms relating to COVID-19 for a few days to a week are the ones who should consider getting this test.
"If you came in here with a fever and cough for two days, it would not be appropriate to use this test. That would be more of something to do a molecular test like the nasal or the oral," Ellis said.
READ: Surviving And Thriving: How Some Small Businesses Are Seeing Success During Coronavirus Pandemic
Ellis told CBS13 he first heard of these rapid antibody test being available from a friend in Singapore.
"When I saw the FDA approved the Emergency Use Authorization, which basically means that companies can apply for emergency use, they had to self-validate their tests. Which means they had to do a study and publish it to the FDA that they can start selling tests," Ellis said.
Ellis purchased his couple of hundred tests from Phamatech, a laboratory company out of San Diego, and another U.S. based company which on the FDA's list of companies await EAU approval. But they're allowed to sell the tests because they are registered with the FDA and have the ability and clearance to produce high-complexity tests.
Currently, Lincoln Urgent Care is charging $100 for this new wave of coronavirus testing. But, Ellis anticipates the prices could drop which could mean more things than one.
"We expect the price of these things to come down as they become more readily available," Ellis said.
So far, Lincoln Urgent Care told CBS13 it has tested 70 patients with the rapid antibody tests.
