Santa Monica Church, Nonprofit To Offer Free Antibody Testing

SANTA MONICA, CA — Calvary Baptist Church Of Santa Monica will offer free coronavirus antibody testing amid the ongoing pandemic.

The no-cost antibody testing is a partnership with the church and GUARDaHEART Foundation. Locals are invited to sign up for the event from Jan. 19 to Jan. 21.

"It’s primarily designed for people who do not have symptoms who think they may have had it in the past or want to know if they’ve had it," Dr. Douglas S. Harrington, MD Fellow of the American Society of Preventive Cardiology, the American Society of Clinical Pathology, and Chairman of The GUARDaHEART Foundation, told Patch.

"A significant number of people, the majority that gets COVID, don’t even know it," Harrington said. "That’s the biggest problem. "

Antibody testing data can help communities better fight the virus and provide more data.

"For the public health groups to get an accurate assessment of the group who had an infection, it’s been helpful in documenting the actual number or prevalence of the disease among people," Harrington said.

"It actually makes the death rates and morbidity rates more accurate," he said.

The test is not recommended for symptomatic people.

The COVID-19 antibody testing is covered under the CARES Act. Everyone is eligible to receive the COVID-19 serology antibody test at no cost to them as long as they do not have any coronavirus symptoms. Testing starts at age one, and an adult must accompany anyone under 17 years old.

The SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing provided is one of the most reliable antibody tests available, he added.

It has a sensitivity of 100 percent and a specificity of 99.6 percent performance evaluations. This COVID-19 antibody blood test can be used to detect the presence of an IgM & IgG antibody response. A positive result indicates that an individual has been infected with the COVID-19 pathogen and has developed some immunity level. This test could be a critical next step in battling COVID-19, continuing to flatten the curve and ensuring a safe re-opening of the community.

"There is a way to tell if you’ve had it in the past and we’re more than happy to do that for you," Harrington said. "It’s been particularly helpful for the health departments because they haven’t been able to get accurate information (on who has antibodies)."

The nonprofit has administered this antibody testing across Southern California, focusing on Black and Latino communities, groups most infected by the virus, Harrington told Patch.

Stanford researchers published a study in November that found that more than half of all in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 over the first six months of the pandemic were Black and Hispanic patients.

Given the information, the nonprofit seeks to address inequity and help serve these communities in the pandemic.

"We did a lot of testing in LA in the lower socioeconomic areas, South Los Angeles," Harrington said.

"Nationally, some of the African American communities were running very high in the 16 to 18% infection rates," he said. "In Baldwin Hills, Crenshaw, they were actually around 4%. I believe that was because they had a very organized outreach program that seemed to really have an impact."

Latinos also have a high infection rate, 14 to 18%, Harrington said.

"Of all the people that we tested, which is a good sampling of the population, there were 18% of the population were tested positive," Harrington said. "We believe that cultural differences speak to that. They have multigenerational housing, more service jobs."

Testing can help slow the spread of the virus and give communities more information to help continue the fight.

"Large-scale testing is one of the best tools we have to get vital information about how to stop the spread of COVID-19," Harringtons said. "The more people who are able to get an accurate idea of their health, the better the community will be as a whole. With the help of the community, we can slow the spread of COVID-19."

People can register for the upcoming antibody testing in four different ways:

1. GUARDaHEART Foundation website: www.GuardaHeart.org
2. Registration Link: https://cutt.ly/SjOucaV
3. Individuals without internet access or need assistance in Spanish please call 866-299-8998
4. Walk-ups are welcome on the day of the event, but please be prepared to wait.

Learn more about antibody testing and the upcoming event on the website.

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