TESTING
‘The passion is really enormous’: Antibody test maker ramps up production
Severin Schwan, the CEO of Swiss drugmaker Roche, says employees from across the company are coming together to contribute to meeting the aggressive manufacturing targets the company has promised after receiving emergency Food and Drug Administration approval for its COVID-19 antibody test on Sunday.
...The CEO said Roche is staying true to its promises and meeting aggressive production targets. Roche will be able to produce 60 million tests by the end of May, with most analysts expecting Roche to produce up to 100 million tests per month by the end of the year.
TESTING - Israel
Herd Immunity, or Big 2nd Wave? Israel Antibody Testing Hopes to Find Out.
..If antibody tests show that a sizable portion of the population has developed antibodies, that could mean Israel is on its way to “herd immunity” and would be well equipped to withstand further outbreaks.
But if the tests show that only a tiny percentage of the population has been exposed, the country’s health system could still be overwhelmed by the spread of Covid-19, Mr. Bar-Siman-Tov said. He said estimates of the percentage of Israelis with antibodies range widely, from less than 1 percent to upward of 10 percent.
“We want to know the truth,” he said.
The World Health Organization has cautioned that no evidence exists that people who have recovered from Covid-19 or have antibodies to it are protected from another infection.
But Dr. Yair Schindel, a member of a health ministry task force on the virus who pushed for a large survey, said the Israeli study could produce such evidence.