Yep, I feel the same. I have been curious about being checked for antibodies also, but haven't done it for the reasons you've mentioned. More than likely I have been exposed to it. I was listening to a fav podcast a week or so ago and he said that, eventually, everyone will be.
I don't know if an anonymous antibody test is available. If your state permits self-ordered lab tests, you may be able to get the test done through a reference lab draw station, but they may report it to the government...who knows? Anonymous tests for HIV are available, but there is no vaccine and no big push from the government concerning the test. If your state permits self-order, you could call the draw station and ask if there is a reporting requirement.
I didn't want to wander too far afield in my comment, but was gonna make the comparison to the anonymity surrounding HIV testing and disclosure versus how COVID is treated. GoodRx shows 2 antibody testing entities I can use in Virginia, but says nothing about reporting my results. It does say they bill insurance, which in my case is Medicare. I may call Lab Corp and see what the reporting requirements are and if paying for the test out of pocket is an available option, and if doing so mitigates reporting. I guess I would also need to make certain this is not just a general "COVID" test, but one specific to SARS-COV-2...I assume they would not offer one that did not have current relevance. This April 2020 article in Men's Health discusses the imperfections in antibody testing in some detail. But they also say that immunity is transient, so you would still need to get vaccinated "once they come out." (Note this article predates the availability of vaccines.) Given that, I'm not certain what defense to The Jab a positive antibody test might provide, if immunity is fleeting and the "Variant" case can always be made. Is there really any benefit to even knowing?
Arguments for being vaccinated if you've already had COVID don't pass the smell test. If having the disease does not give you immunity, then the vaccinations aren't going to work either, and that seems to be the case since people are getting sick whether or not they've been vaccinated. I suggest the only reason they want everyone to be vaccinated is that their planned vaccine passport isn't going to work otherwise. It's not for medical reasons but for their convenience in further separating us into the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.
I think I wrote before somewhere here that the absence of an antibody titer does not necessarily mean you have no immunity. T-cell immunity leads to anamnestic response. Your body can remember previous response and as soon as you are again exposed to the stimulant again, your system begins the production of antibodies and your titer would rise again. That is, in part, why they don't know how long the immunity lasts either from exposure or vaccination. They have to rely on the stability of the titer, and it may not last in everyone but the only way to test for immunity would be to try to make you sick again--or re-vaccinate and see if the titer rises. That all leads to another fallacy surrounding the Fauci virus. @John Brunner if you get the test and have a titer, you can assume you have immunity, but if you have no titer, you wouldn't know if you are immune or not unless you were again exposed and re-tested.
Well, Marie, wife and I got both of our vaccines in Feb. and March (1 each month). I got the Moderna from local VA Clinic and she got the Pfizer from local hospital. I done fine after both vaccines, but, day after her second one, she got a low-grade fever of 101. I had her rest and take Motrin and she ended up fine. Except on two vacations this summer, we wore our double masks (paper like one and a cloth one) all of the time. When we went on both vacations, a weekend one and a 5-day one, we had the masks with us, but didn't wear once. Actually, both places we went, nobody was. We know, by reading our local newspaper app on our iPhones, that the Covid 19 and Variant are still "alive and well" in our County. So, we continue to wear our masks, as highly suggested. Only one restaurant we go into and that is iHop. Don't wear a mask in there and it seems to be fine. But, in our city, nobody would ever think the virus is "alive and doing well", because very, very few people wear a mask here. So, who's had the vaccine and who hasn't? When the mask requirement ended, everyone, including those that had not been vaccinated yet, took theirs off and kept it off. Now we are seeing a few more people wearing them, but mainly Seniors, like us.
I got an email from medicare today that says they will send 4 free at-home covid tests to any household that wants them. Even though it is from medicare, it actually says that any family in the US can have the tests, not just people on medicare. I am posting a copy of the email in case anyone wants to get the tests. I ordered some and it says they should ship out by the end of this month.
I almost posted that same screenshot. The more we test, the more hysteria...although I guess if I had a cold, it might be nice to know...
Yvonne’s daughter and one of her sons was here a week ago and they brought some tests over. Now, I had posted earlier that I have a cold which indeed has lasted longer and more bothersome than any cold I’ve ever had so when they broke out the tests I was happy to see that they all tested negative for whatever forms of Covid it is for. I realize that her son and daughter probably wouldn’t have shown anything due to the incubation period but Yvonne is obviously around me all the time. And, as a side, because her daughter’s official tests weren’t confirmed on time, her flight back to the Netherlands had to be rescheduled. It took almost a week to get her new tests and flight schedule but the new tests were negative so she took off today to go back. I can now breathe a sigh of relief knowing 1st, that I didn’t pass around some bad junk and 2nd, I obviously don’t have any bad junk either. Long story short, the tests can definitely be a good thing if one is worried about spreading what could be something you don’t want your friends or family to get.
Check out this reaction to a positive COVID home test: Link to Twitter Spoiler: She lost her coolest characteristic
I have had a few colds since I was last tested but I'm not going to bother being tested again. They're pushing the tests only because the more tests that are given, the more positive results they will get, and the negatives are not counted. We were tested the last time because Michelle and I had both had particularly bad colds, and bacon started tasting like grapefruit to her, which sounds like one of the COVID symptoms, but we were both negative, yet bacon still tastes like grapefruit to her.