Yes, they can differentiate. To do it they look for antibodies against portions of the virus that aren’t included in the spike protein from the vaccine.
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Hmm, will have to look into how much it costs, I’d be interested in understanding if I have had it or not.
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In that case I think you’d want the antibody test against the N Protein. (Most vaccinated people will have antibodies against the S protein but not N if they haven’t been infected.)
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Antibody tests for COVID aren’t very sensitive. Unless you’ve had it recently, antibodies fade below detectable levels in most people. Bear in mind, that’s circulating antibodies. They remain in storage in places like lymph nodes. But unless they collect a sample directly from the lymph node (NOT recommended for routine testing), it won’t show up in the test.
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The studies I’ve seen for the IgG antibodies against nucleocapsid protein (which is what’s typically used to test for past infections rather than vaccine immunity) are usually still detectable after 16 weeks, and in many cases may be detectable up to a year after infection. But yes, it does fade and the test can’t rule out a past infection if it’s been more than a few months.
The 10 individuals who were followed long term in this study were all still testing positive about 44 weeks out:
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it’s still maddening to me that mask protections were stopped via a court injunction because “the cdc doesn’t have the authority”, but then another judge turned around to stop the title 42 from being lifted because it wouldnt be in “the public interest”
it feels like they’re just making things up at this point
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I guess public health departments aren’t really about public health.
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Had our first outdoor picnic for the holiday and our daughter’s 37th birthday.
So nice to have friends and family on board with having fun while staying safe.
Not a single person had a problem with our rules. Of course we know who not to invite.
Also our first drive in movie of the season.
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That is a very unfortunate beard for those cheeks, but that gentleman seems fairly well versed in bad calls.
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Christ, what an asshole. I guess he can always go on tour with Eric Clapton.
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Speaking of assholes, I was reading the latest issue of Wired last night which had this interview with Bill Gates.
While he’s seemed pretty reasonable in the past regarding pandemics, vaccines, and COVID, I found some of his takes in this interview to be incredibly shitty and irresponsible.
Among his shitty takes are that driving is more dangerous than attending a large gathering, vaccines “don’t prevent cases” ergo they won’t stop new variants. Which is just, what? And that the war in Ukraine is bad because it’s taking away focus from his Foundation’s charitable efforts.
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Morrison’s solicitors, John J Rice and Co, confirmed that he was taking legal action against the Department of Health and Swann, but declined to specify on what grounds.
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Swann’s proceedings against Morrison are also understood to reference two further incidents: an interview in which Morrison allegedly referred to Swann as a “fraud”, and a video in which he repeats the “dangerous” accusation.
Morrison’s legal firm responded: “Mr Morrison asserts within that defence that the words used by him related to a matter of public interest and constituted fair comment.”
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They both sound like hard cases to win as they’re both public figures. At least in the US - no idea how that works in Northern Ireland.
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Well then - he should stop the war in Ukraine.
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It’s my understanding that for much of the UK, libel laws are very friendly to the plaintiff — to the point where it can have really chilling effects, especially on journalists. There’s even a thing called “libel tourism” to take these kind of suits to plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions such as England, Wales, or NI to tip the scales.
This is different than the US which has a much higher standard when it comes to libel. Trump campaigned on weakening libel laws but I guess that never really fired up his base (too many minority groups to oppress, too little time) so he never got around to it.
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The last thing we need is more focus on his foundation (or funds going to it) 
, so I’m glad Melinda French Gates will be donating her wealth to other causes:
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