Here it is — the latest and greatest silver bullet being pushed by Disinfectant Donnie and his merry band of bumbling fools.
This is the Quidel 20299 Sofia 2 Rapid Test Analyzer, which runs the antigen test for Covid-19. As you can probably see, it is a small box (just right size for Dear Leader to fondle on the stage), and, as expected, it is a point-of-care machine, and it runs one test at a time. So that severely limits its through-put, just like the last ‘fix’ for testing, the Abbott ID-Now rapid test.
Oh, before I get to the problem I mentioned in the headline, here’s another small issue with this test: this is a relatively new machine, and there are a limited number of them available around the country. I wasn’t able to find out how many, but at the only supplier I could find for it, it’s listed as ‘BACKORDER’, so that gives an idea of its availability. Gee, maybe Dear Leader will put Jared on the task of getting more…. just as soon as he finishes screwing up peace in the Middle East… oh, wait! He’s done with that… OK, get to work, Jared.
Now, on to the originally noted ‘small problem’….. Here’s an excerpt from the FDA’s notice of Emergency Use Authorization:
This latest FDA authorization is for an antigen test, which is a new type of diagnostic test designed for rapid detection of the virus that causes COVID-19. Each category of diagnostic test has its own unique role in the fight against this virus. PCR tests can be incredibly accurate, but running the tests and analyzing the results can take time. One of the main advantages of an antigen test is the speed of the test, which can provide results in minutes. However, antigen tests may not detect all active infections, as they do not work the same way as a PCR test. Antigen tests are very specific for the virus, but are not as sensitive as molecular PCR tests. This means that positive results from antigen tests are highly accurate, but there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection. With this in mind, negative results from an antigen test may need to be confirmed with a PCR test prior to making treatment decisions or to prevent the possible spread of the virus due to a false negative. (emphasis added)
Ummmm……. hello? Uhhhh… [stares at screen]……. [reads it one more time, still in disbelief]…..[never been at a loss for words quite like this]…. [saves draft, takes a drink (unfortunately non-alcoholic), saves draft again]….. WTAF?
I guess they’ve completely redefined binary logic — from yes/no all the way to yes/maybe…. or yes/ probably not.
So just how inaccurate is this test? Let’s ask the CEO of the company:
The tests typically used to diagnose COVID-19, called PCR tests, search out the genetic sequence of the coronavirus in a swab collected from a patient’s nose or throat. Antigen tests, on the other hand, look for molecules on the surface of the virus. They return results much more quickly, but are less accurate. If the test says a patient sample is positive, it’s likely to be correct. But Quidel’s test has a high rate of false negatives: it only correctly identifies patient samples that contains the coronavirus 85 percent of the time, the company’s chief executive told the Wall Street Journal.
Oh, OK, it’s only 15% inaccurate on the negative results — so about 1 out of 7 people who takes the test will think they are in the clear, but aren’t. And this is a problem inherent in antigen tests for any disease, not specific to the Covid-19 test, so it isn’t likely to be fixable.
Come to think of it, that Abbott RapidID test they’re using at the White House — to protect Disinfectant Donnie, no less — has the same 15% false negative rate.
So one out of 7 of the people walking the halls of the White House, and coming close to Dear Leader, may actually be infected.
Figure the odds.
Cheers.