Validation of at-home blood sampling for large scale, cost effective serological analysis for anti-viral antibody responses.

During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020, the need for highly-specific, wide-spread, and rapid serological testing surged. In this study, we tested the utility of the Volumetric Absorptive Microsampling (VAMS) using Mitra home sampling kits by comparing SARS CoV2 spike antibody levels from serum or Mitra dried blood samples from the same individuals with or without prior COVID 19 infection. We showed a very strong correlation between venous blood collection and capillary VAMS for the detection of anti-SARS CoV2 IgGs using a sensitive, semi-quantitative ELISA protocol. Furthermore, we found that the antibody levels detected from the Mitra blood samples were stable at room temperature for several months. This study demonstrates the utility of using at-home, patient-centric testing to enhance the sero-surveillance methods and large scale community testing for viral tracking, monitoring and vaccine studies.