When Covid-19 shut down the U.S. economy in March, Elon Musk had a rocket to launch.
The billionaire’s space exploration company, SpaceX, was planning to blow up a spacecraft with crew in May and wanted to stay on schedule. That means we need to find a way to keep facilities safe and limit the distribution of Covid-19, a challenge when tests fall short.
To monitor the prevalence of the virus among SpaceX workers nationwide, Mr. Musk and the rocket company’s medical officer worked with doctors and academic researchers to develop an antibody testing program. More than 4,000 SpaceX employees volunteered for blood tests every month.
This week, the group published its findings, suggesting that a certain threshold of antibodies may offer people permanent protection against the virus. Mr. Musk is listed as a co-author of the peer-reviewed study, which appears in the journal Nature Communications.
“People may have antibodies, but that does not mean they will be immune,” said Galit Alter, co-author of the study, which is a member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard. Individuals who experienced fewer, milder Covid-19 symptoms generated fewer antibodies and were therefore less likely to reach the threshold for longer immunity.