US Vice President Mike Pence said a viable antibody test is expected to get approval in the coming days, as the country is the worst-hit one globally from the pandemic.
Pence, who heads the White House’s coronavirus task force, said on Tuesday the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is “very close” to approving the test that will help determine an individual’s immunity to the novel coronavirus.
“THE TEST IN A MATTER OF DAYS”
His remarks came during an interview at The Ingraham Angle program of Fox News.
“We expect the FDA to approve a new antibody test in a matter of days,” he said. Pence added: “… that’ll be a test that will tell you whether you have had the coronavirus in the past and whether you might, in fact, be immune to it going forward.”
Earlier in the week, the FDA also granted emergency use authorization of the first saliva-based coronavirus test. The announcement was made on Monday by New Jersey-based Rutgers University.
The saliva test will better allow for broader population to be screened compared to the current method of nose and throat swabs and without putting health care professionals at risk for infection, according to the university.