Marie Reifelton is the Ombudsman for the Pensioners' National Organization (PRO) in Östergötland, where antibody tests for the public will not be offered until this autumn. At present, only users in special housing and staff in the healthcare, care and care of antibodies are tested.

- I absolutely think that the regions should prioritize antibody testing. It's good for everyone, not just 70-plus people. It is strange that Östergötland does not offer antibody tests when Stockholm and Sörmland do. After all, we were affected by the spread of infection at about the same time.

She hopes that the Public Health Authority's assessment that those who have antibodies detected can hit risk groups will reduce loneliness.

-The loneliness is awful. Many who live alone usually have their social life with PRO and are active five days a week. During the pandemic, they are alone all the time, says Marie Reifelton.

Coordination

Infection protection doctor Britt Åkerlind in Östergötland believes that antibody testing for the general public should have been coordinated in the country.

-Everything should be ready before it is introduced. Stockholm, which offers general sampling, has huge problems with testing today and then resources go to it, she says.

Britt Åkerlind says the difficulty is not organizing antibody sampling, but rather the subsequent questions that can be tricky to answer, including how to interpret the council that immunity applies for six months from the test result.

Must be done right

According to SKR's agreement with the government, the public is to be offered antibody testing for a fee. It is welcomed by Sweden's Municipalities and Regions.

Social Minister Lena Hallengren (S) writes in a comment to TT that no date has been set for the large-scale testing of infection and antibody testing in the agreement with SKR.

“For us, it is important that testing starts in a safe and reliable way, rather than a certain date. Antibody tests need to have a very high performance to give a reliable result and you have to be sure that the result you get is also interpreted correctly, ”she writes.