The University of Arizona is partnering with the state to expand eligibility for free COVID-19 antibody testing. The expansion includes 250,000 people, and 15 new categories of essential workers considered at high risk for infection.
Educators, child care providers and food service employees are some of the essential workers that will fall under UA’s antibody testing blanket.
Antibody tests are not used to diagnose active infections. But they are important in determining an individual’s immune response against COVID-19 after they’re exposed.
UA hopes that expanding antibody testing will help to better understand the spread of coronavirus in Arizona.
The university is also launching a $7.7 million study funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s supposed to identify patterns of COVID-19 immunity and find out how long this immunity persists.
