Number of antibodies after your vaccine 1st & 2nd jab

[MrsKypp]

Hi,

I was given AstraZeneca. I would have preferred an mRNA vaccine, but I'm in the UK so didn't get any choice (other than waiting).

After the first jab my antibodies were 25 U/ml and after the second, 978 U/ml

I did the blood tests on day 33 after each vaccine.

Roche test.

What were your antibody levels and which vaccine and antibody test did you do?

I will let you know next week! I have just ordered a Roche test. I want to know my vaccine has worked before society opens up on the 19th and we have to fend for ourselves !!

@Dumpypumpy

I will let you know next week! I have just ordered a Roche test. I want to know my vaccine has worked before society opens up on the 19th and we have to fend for ourselves !!

Great! Yes, please do!

That's exactly why I had mine done too, although I can't find any info about approx number of antibodies they consider to be sufficient to probably give us protection.

I read that in the over 80s, Pfizer elicited over 4,000 U/ml .... I'm loads younger than that and not even 1,000 (but AstraZeneca, not Pfizer).

Of course I know there are T cells etc, but as I understand it, antibodies are a useful indicator.

Where are people getting an antibody test? I’d be interested to know too but wouldn’t know where to start with a reputable place to purchase. And if anyone’s done one and didn’t mind telling me what the process was/how you do the tests I’d so appreciate :)

We're not given these routinely, so why would most people know?

@PickAChew

We're not given these routinely, so why would most people know?

Because they’re curious and order one? If you have a compromised immune system it’s well worth the investment.

@Brabraboo

Where are people getting an antibody test? I’d be interested to know too but wouldn’t know where to start with a reputable place to purchase. And if anyone’s done one and didn’t mind telling me what the process was/how you do the tests I’d so appreciate :)

Hi Brabraboo

I think there are various companies out there offering antibody tests.

There are tests for antibodies after infection with Covid, and tests for antibodies after a vaccination, then there are tests that do both. Obviously, it's very important to select the right one!

I did my tests with Testing for All where I did the Immunity Tracker test by Roche, which is quantitative - I really wanted to know how many antibodies, not only YES / NO.

It costs £49 and they post the pack to you, you post it back then you get your results very quickly, I got them the next day.

The process is easy - as long as you don't mind the thing that jabs your finger to get it to bleed. You let your blood drop into a tiny container and put a sticker around the tube with your date of birth etc. I had to use 3 fingers to get enough blood, but I was a bit useless at getting it into the tube! Only painful for a split second.

Here's where I ordered: www.testingforall.org/product/covid-19-immunity-tracker/

@PickAChew

We're not given these routinely, so why would most people know?

Because we have an extremely clinically vulnerable family member and I have moderately severe asthma myself with a history of millions of lung infections (well, ok, not millions! But lots).

Also because a friend of mine had NO antibodies at all after 3 weeks after her 2nd dose (AZ). She was also a 'shielder' and on immunosuppressants.

Sadly, we are not routinely tested for antibodies, although I hope they are testing for studies so they know for the future what is enough for immunity, and can learn more in general about the immune system.

I would like to test my T cells too, but that's more expensive so I only checked my antibodies.

@IndigoC

Yes, exactly.

Sadly, we are not routinely tested for antibodies, although I hope they are testing for studies so they know for the future what is enough for immunity, and can learn more in general about the immune system.

They are. I’m currently undergoing monthly antibody testing as part of a research study.

Advantage: free
Disadvantage: in the study I’m in you aren’t informed of the level of antibodies - they say you need a certain level to elicit a positive response but don’t say what it is. You are told whether the antibodies are due to the vaccine or previously having had the virus, or both.

@MrsFezziwig

Sadly, we are not routinely tested for antibodies, although I hope they are testing for studies so they know for the future what is enough for immunity, and can learn more in general about the immune system.

They are. I’m currently undergoing monthly antibody testing as part of a research study.

Advantage: free
Disadvantage: in the study I’m in you aren’t informed of the level of antibodies - they say you need a certain level to elicit a positive response but don’t say what it is. You are told whether the antibodies are due to the vaccine or previously having had the virus, or both.

That's interesting.

How INFURIATING they use your blood etc but they keep your results from you.

I suppose they think it could influence the participants' behaviour i.e. loads of antibodies > more risk-taking / lower antibodies > super cautious behaviour, so that would wreck the reliability/ validity of the results showing how high the levels need to be to avoid illness etc

Will they let you know in the future? After the study's complete?

How INFURIATING they use your blood etc but they keep your results from you.

I’m really not obsessing that I don’t know the exact values. I’m just happy to know that I have antibodies at all, and presumably if they thought telling you would change your behaviour they wouldn’t even tell you that.

I would have thought that many other variables are at play, so maybe (for example) to take your level of 1,000, your immune response and another person’s with the same level might be different?

Yes, I think you're right that 1,000 antibodies in one person doesn't necessarily provide similar immunity to 1,000 in another because of the complexity of the immune system, our genes etc

So they did say YES/NO antibodies then at least.

I would really like to know if I have enough antibodies too.

I had ME/CFS before covid and then got long covid on top. Then the vaccine gave me very bad side effects and I'm still on my knees 9 weeks later. I'm really struggling to work up the ginger to get the second vaccine as I'm really not well at all, and not really getting better.

If there was a test that could tell me that I already have enough antibodies, I would really like that. I gather that in France they consider a covid infection + 1 vaccine to be enough.

Having said this, I was on a research project last year that tested me for antibodies three times during the year, and all the tests we negative, so showed no antibodies at all. #depressing

The roche one sounds good, though I have had one of those finger prick tests before and I couldn't get enough of a sample with the little lancet.

I am on immunosuppressant medication and got the AZ vaccine. I also got a Roche antibody test about 3 and a half weeks after the first vaccine. Antibodies were positive but low at 5u/ml. I have just received another test which I will do next week coz need to post on a weekday.
It is now a couple of months after my second jab. I hope it shows higher

I’m doing the finger prick tests once a month and in addition have done two six months apart where I have to attend a clinic to have blood taken intravenously.
The first test I had last November showed no antibodies. All the subsequent ones (starting this March) have tested positive for antibodies both to the vaccine and due to previous infection - which came as a bit of a shock as I had no idea that I had ever had Covid!

I don't know the statistics on antibodies, but both of my children have covid and so far my dh and I are testing negative. We've both had second doses of AZ. I haven't made the children stay in their rooms, as the guidelines suggest, we just get on with normal family life. If they want hugs they get them.

@MrsKypp I tested 6 weeks after my first Moderna and it was 255, i am due to have my second dose in a week and so I hope the levels would be higher after. I think yours seem perfectly good, i read an academic paper that anything higher than 250 is good and as you note yourself there is also the t cell response which in some ways is more important as antibody levels will wane over time.

@MrsKypp would you mind my asking which Roche test you think is the good one? I see they do four separate tests and I'd like to have my antibody levels checked.

I booked this one:

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Abbott IgG Antibody
at the doctor's laboratory

Hopefully that's about right.

@StrongLegs

I would really like to know if I have enough antibodies too.

I had ME/CFS before covid and then got long covid on top. Then the vaccine gave me very bad side effects and I'm still on my knees 9 weeks later. I'm really struggling to work up the ginger to get the second vaccine as I'm really not well at all, and not really getting better.

If there was a test that could tell me that I already have enough antibodies, I would really like that. I gather that in France they consider a covid infection + 1 vaccine to be enough.

Having said this, I was on a research project last year that tested me for antibodies three times during the year, and all the tests we negative, so showed no antibodies at all. #depressing

The roche one sounds good, though I have had one of those finger prick tests before and I couldn't get enough of a sample with the little lancet.

So sorry to hear what you've been through, it sounds overwhelming.

Is your GP nice / any good? Would it be worth talking to them about it?

Like you said, you had Covid plus the vaccine (that made you ill) so maybe that's enough - I have absoultely no idea, but it could definitley be worth discussing with a medical professional about missing your second dose, couldn't it.

I couldn't get enough blood with one lancet either, but luckily the pack had 3. I did it 3 times on different fingers and that was ok, enough blood.

I know what you mean that it's depressing not to have any antibodies after what you went through: a close friend of mine has no antibodies despite two vaccine doses 12 weeks apart. She was group 4, so had hers ages ago now. I'm wondering if it was her medication that stopped her body reacting, or hopefully that her body did react just in a different way.

@lazymum99

I am on immunosuppressant medication and got the AZ vaccine. I also got a Roche antibody test about 3 and a half weeks after the first vaccine. Antibodies were positive but low at 5u/ml. I have just received another test which I will do next week coz need to post on a weekday. It is now a couple of months after my second jab. I hope it shows higher

I hope it shows higher fingers crossed.

5 U/ml is low, but maybe it at least shows some reaction?

My first test after my 1st vaccine dose was 25 U/ml, and went up almost by 40 times after the 2nd dose. I don't know if that's a common pattern or not.

As you're on immunosuppressant medication, are your doctors willing to do a T cell test or other tests to see if your body managed to create some immune response despite the medicines?

@MrsFezziwig

I’m doing the finger prick tests once a month and in addition have done two six months apart where I have to attend a clinic to have blood taken intravenously. The first test I had last November showed no antibodies. All the subsequent ones (starting this March) have tested positive for antibodies both to the vaccine and due to previous infection - which came as a bit of a shock as I had no idea that I had ever had Covid!

That's interesting.

Weird when people have had Covid without realising isn't it. I suppose that means you're maybe one of the very lucky people who are asymptomatic when they catch it?

@Saidtoomuch

I don't know the statistics on antibodies, but both of my children have covid and so far my dh and I are testing negative. We've both had second doses of AZ. I haven't made the children stay in their rooms, as the guidelines suggest, we just get on with normal family life. If they want hugs they get them.

You mean testing negative for Covid-19 or negative for antibodies following your vaccines? If you mean to Covid, then fingers crossed your vaccines are protecting you.

I know what you mean. I would absolutely hug mine too if they caught it, but I would certainly also keep them at home (the eldest is at uni so not him, but the other 2).

[quote user34254356]@MrsKypp I tested 6 weeks after my first Moderna and it was 255, i am due to have my second dose in a week and so I hope the levels would be higher after. I think yours seem perfectly good, i read an academic paper that anything higher than 250 is good and as you note yourself there is also the t cell response which in some ways is more important as antibody levels will wane over time. [/quote]
Wow, that's a great result from one dose isn't it?

They do say that the mRNA vaccines are better and I read somewhere that a person with MS got over 2,500 U/ml antibodies from Moderna which sounds particularly impressive because AFAIK people with MS take medication that can interfere with immunity.

Thanks for the info about anything over 250 being good. It's helpful to have a guideline because otherwise it's impossible to know isn't it.

Yes, T cells etc. Interesting to hear it's more important. I wonder how it relates to antibody levels, if it goes parallel or you can have e.g. no antibodies with a robust T-cell response. So complex.

They wane over time I've read, but the booster in the autumn will also hopefully help. I will only accept Moderna or Pfizer for that.

Do update us with your result after your 2nd dose!!

[quote StrongLegs]@MrsKypp would you mind my asking which Roche test you think is the good one? I see they do four separate tests and I'd like to have my antibody levels checked.[/quote]
Hi StrongLegs

I don't have medical training or any knowledge about these things other than just reading / learning from people who do know more.

What I do know for sure is that the antibodies after having the disease Covid-19 are different to the antibodies you get after the vaccines. It's something about the spike (N or S etc). That means that we need to make sure the test is for the right antibodies.

Testing for All say:

This easy to use finger prick test can be used to detect previous exposure, and to accurately measure the level of IgG antibodies to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to get a better understanding of your immune response. This test measures the immune response following both vaccination and natural infection.

This test is manufactured by Roche (Anti-SARS-COV-2 S) and reports antibody level in U/mL

The results don't say which type of antibody they found, only if they found them and the exact amount in U/ml.

I don't know if the test I did is regarded by medical professionals as reliable or not, but Testing for All say this about that:

^Test quality:

98.8% sensitivity and >99.98% specificity, CE marked^

I did the Covid-19 Immunity Tracker one.