The test from Melville, New York-based Henry Schein produces results within about 15 minutes using only a blood sample drawn from a pinprick, according to a news release last week. The test from Becton Dickinson and BioMedomics produces similarly fast results and should be available within two weeks, Troy Hopps, a top executive in the company’s point-of-care unit, said in a Tuesday interview.

It’s unknown whether having had a Covid-19 infection will protect someone from contracting the disease again. However, exposure to a pathogen is generally thought to confer at least a degree of immunity. Covid-19 sufferers will likely have immunity for some time, though experts aren’t sure exactly how long.

As such, antibody testing could make it easier to determine whether workers, especially health-care professionals, can return. It could also help public-health officials plot strategy for a second wave of infections.