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With COVID-19 instances on the rise once more within the U.S., Individuals are reviving a well-recognized precautionary measure: Screening for the virus utilizing fast at-home checks.
Many individuals nonetheless have kits the authorities previously offered to all households free of charge, particularly as some colleges and companies once more require checks. But totally different COVID-19 checks bear expiration dates on their packaging which have lengthy since handed, elevating questions on whether or not they’re nonetheless efficient.
As soon as in brief provide, take a look at kits are actually simpler to return by however are expensive, costing roughly $25 for a pack of two checks. The White Home despatched fast at-home COVID-19 take a look at kits freed from cost to Individuals who requested them as lately as final December as a part of its “winter preparedness plan.”
The excellent news is that some COVID-19 take a look at kits which can be previous their expiration dates should still be efficient. Here is easy methods to discover out in case your COVID-19 take a look at is secure to make use of. It is also nonetheless potential for each insured and uninsured folks to get free testing.
Why did the FDA prolong expiration dates?
The Meals and Drug Administration maintains a record of approved over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic checks that signifies if the expiration date printed on their packaging is legitimate or if it has been prolonged.
The FDA has prolonged the expiration dates of numerous totally different take a look at manufacturers, lengthening their shelf lives to as much as two years. The extensions are available in response to producers testing their kits for accuracy past their printed expirations dates and sharing the outcomes with the FDA.
See the FDA’s full record of test-kit expiration date extensions right here.
Which take a look at manufacturers can you utilize after they’ve “expired”?
Abbott’s extensively used BinaxNow COVID-19 take a look at kits now have a shelf lifetime of as much as 22 months, relying on when the checks have been manufactured. In January of 2023, the pharmaceutical agency advised prospects that kits they’d beforehand bought “could now have an extended than labeled product expiry date.” To see if a BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Take a look at equipment in your possession has a brand new epiration date, you’ll be able to seek for its lot quantity within the connected record right here.
“All BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Take a look at kits at present have a twenty-two-month expiry date,” the corporate mentioned. Abbott added that expiration dates could possibly be prolonged once more sooner or later, pending new information on their viability.
The Flowflex COVID-19 Antigen Residence Take a look at from Acon Laboratories will also be used nicely previous its printed expiration date, in accordance with the FDA, which granted the extension in March. The checks are good for an extra 12 months previous their expiration dates. For instance, checks with printed “October 2022” expiration dates must be thought-about applicable for utilization till October 2023.
What occurs if a COVID-19 take a look at is really expired?
Customers of different checks, like Ellume’s COVID-19 Residence Take a look at, ought to discuss with the expiration date printed on the checks’ packaging. If a take a look at actually has expired, the outcomes it delivers can’t be trusted, in accordance with the FDA.
“COVID-19 checks and the elements they’re manufactured from could degrade, or break down, over time. Due to this, expired take a look at kits may give inaccurate or invalid take a look at outcomes,” the FDA mentioned in an announcement on its web site.
