Five million antibody kits ready to be shipped out to UK as second test approved

A major pharmaceutical firm is ready to begin shipping five million antibody kits to Britain a month after its test became the second given the green light by health officials.

Abbott tests have been found to be 99.73% to 100% specific at flagging up antibodies that that could be key to showing who has already had Covid-19.

A company statement confirmed it can begin providing the kits to the UK “with immediate effect” and is “working closely” with the NHS, having already began shipping to the health service’s labs.

It’s the second test in as many days to be given the thumbs up by Public Health England following the approval of one created by industry giant Roche.

Boris Johnson has previously described the Roche test – found to be 99.81% specific and 100% sensitive – as a “game-changer”.

Number 10 said the new antibody test would “certainly” be available on the NHS, but commercial discussions with Roche are ongoing.

Roche said it could supply hundreds of thousands of the tests each week.