Bemoaning the delays in the COVID serology testing prevalence rollout

With the clear lessons from the recent Covid PCR testing capacity findings still fresh in the air it seems completely at odds not to have a quick efficient truly national Covid serology surveillance rollout underway by now. As medical laboratory scientists who deal with real time stresses with the current wave, the New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Science (NZIMLS) is asking what are we waiting for to be rolling out a national coordinated serology assessment in Aotearoa New Zealand?

“The accelerated move to a genuine national approach utilising the full potential serology testing capacity of every NZ laboratory provider capable of this testing should have been well and truly instigated by now” says Terry Taylor, President of the NZIMLS.

One of the main recommendations to come out of the Covid PCR testing review was that a national expert coordinated approach was needed to override the competitive and logistical barriers that the current diagnostic laboratory system has. Antibodies for Covid nucleocapsid components indicate a recent actual infection and can assist in showing the difference between vaccination and past infection. The problem is that nucleocapsid antibodies have a finite time when they can be detected. Every month that goes by is a month that we are missing the prevalence of older infections that asymptomatic people may have had that haven’t been documented. It is frustrating that unnecessary delays are once again holding back our response capability and knowledge base due to logistical and leadership constraints.

“One of main aims of the new National Public Health Agency is to have a real time nationally controlled pandemic and surveillance approach for situations like covid serology assessment rollouts. This current situation clearly highlights once again the need for expert specialist medical scientists to be in national positions within Te Whatu Ora and the agency with genuine authority to ensure all diagnostic laboratories are working in a coherent coordinated manner to benefit our pandemic and any future health responses”, says Taylor.

With Te Whatu Ora and the National Public Health Agency in the very early developmental stages and the transferring of pandemic operational functions from the MOH happening at the same time it is unfortunate that the covid serology surveillance rollout has been caught in the middle. This situation totally reinforces the need for national direction of all current stakeholders and the future research and diagnostic laboratory approaches needed for swift and effective health responses.