The Netherlands has immediate access to one million immune tests for the new coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease. The tests show whether someone has been infected with corona. This makes it possible to gain insight into how the virus is spreading in the Netherlands. The tests can play an important role in the way out of the 'intelligent lockdown' that the Netherlands has been in since mid-March. The Ministry of Health has ordered the tests together with blood bank Sanquin from Sanbio B.V. The tests are manufactured by Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Entrerprise Co, Ltd. from China. Sanbio B.V. has been a partner for Beijing Wantai for over a decade and is the exclusive distributor in the Benelux countries.
The Wantai SARS-CoV2 Ab ELISA tests provide insight into the level of infection among the population. This makes it possible to determine how many Dutch people have had the virus. In addition, these tests accelerate the research to gain knowledge about the development of antibodies against corona. The tests cannot show whether someone is immune to corona, because more research is required to get a better understanding to what extent the antibody levels correlate with the development of immunity.
Minister Hugo de Jonge of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and special coronavirus envoy Mr. Feike Sijbesma presented the test kits on May 5th to Prof. Dr. Rene van Lier, Vice Chairman of the Executive Board and Research Director of Sanquin blood bank.
