No, it’s just that antibody tests aren’t intended to test for immunity. That’s according to the FDA and the companies that make them.
Well the mere presence of antibodies, in general, don’t grant immunity, sure. It’s not a guarantee.
However, an adequate amount of antibodies SHOULD confer immunity, at some titer level.
One example:
Widespread availability of commercial assays that detect anti–severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) antibodies has enabled researchers to examine naturally acquired immunity to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at the population level. Several studies have found that the...
jamanetwork.com
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Unfortunately, it is not yet known if detection of anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies by commercial clinical laboratory assays is associated with protective immunity. It is possible that protection requires achieving a specific quantity of a specific subtype of antibody. It is also possible that to achieve protection, antibodies must bind to specific epitopes on the virus, which may differ from the epitopes that are targeted in the commercial assays. Thus, we simply do not know if the seroprevalence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 that are detected by commercial assays will ultimately translate into protective herd immunity as the virus continues to spread.
Conversely, it is possible that people exposed to SARS-CoV-2 are protected against future infection regardless of whether they have measurable antibody titers or not. The role of T cells in protective immunity against COVID-19, and the association between immunity based on antibodies and memory T cells, remains undefined. Indeed, there are reasons to be optimistic that prior exposure to the virus does lead to protective immunity. Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been more than 30 million confirmed infections, but extremely few documented cases of reinfection with SARS-CoV-2 throughout the world.
7 If natural infection did not lead to a high degree of protection, many more reinfections would be expected. Furthermore, analysis of convalescent plasma reveals that most individuals with symptomatic COVID-19 mount neutralizing antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2.
8 Based on immunological experience with other viruses, the presence of neutralizing antibodies is likely associated with protection. Thus, until more data become available, it is reasonable to assume that natural infection with SARS-CoV-2 may lead to protective immunity and prior infection may be closely associated with protection. Furthermore, protection from natural infection suggests that vaccines should induce protective immunity”.
It’s not that the antibodies don’t allude to protection, it’s that they don’t guarantee it.
Practical info about COVID-19 antibody tests, such as understanding test results, determining who needs tests, and more.
www.fda.gov