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Nov 21, 2023 · November 21, 2023. Image. Starting November 20, every U.S. household can again place an order to receive four more free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home. If you didn’t order tests since the program reopened in September, the site will let you place two orders for a total of eight tests.
Sep 29, 2023 · The FDA advises people to not use a coronavirus test beyond the extended expiration date. The test parts may degrade or break down, so kits used beyond the extended expiration date could give ...
- Ken Alltucker
- Health Reporter
- Overview
- Why did the FDA extend expiration dates?
- Which test brands can you use after they've "expired"?
- What happens if a COVID-19 test is truly expired?
With COVID-19 cases on the rise again in the U.S., Americans are reviving a familiar precautionary measure: Screening for the virus using rapid at-home tests.
Many people still have kits the government formerly provided to all households for free, especially as some schools and businesses again require tests. Yet different COVID-19 tests bear expiration dates on their packaging that have long since passed, raising questions about whether they're still effective.
Once in short supply, test kits are now easier to come by, but they can be costly in stores, roughly $25 for a pack of two tests. It's also still possible for both insured and uninsured people to get free testing. The government is once again offering free rapid at-home tests by mail, which you can order online at COVIDTests.gov.
•More free COVID-19 tests can be ordered now, as uptick looms
•Free COVID test kits are coming back. Here's how to get them.
If you still have any older tests stored away, the good news is that some COVID-19 test kits that are past their expiration dates may still be effective. Here's how to find out if your COVID-19 test is safe to use.
The Food and Drug Administration maintains a list of authorized over-the-counter COVID-19 diagnostic tests that indicate if the expiration date printed on their packaging is valid or if it has been extended.
The FDA has extended the expiration dates of several different test brands, lengthening their shelf lives to up to two years. The extensions come in response to manufacturers testing their kits for accuracy beyond their printed expiration dates and sharing the results with the FDA.
Abbott's widely used BinaxNow COVID-19 test kits now have a shelf life of up to 22 months, depending on when the tests were manufactured. In January of 2023, the pharmaceutical firm told customers that kits they'd previously purchased "may now have a longer than labeled product expiry date." To see if a BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Test kit in your possession has a new expiration date, you can search for its lot number in the attached list here.
"All BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Test kits currently have a twenty-two-month expiry date," the company said. Abbott added that expiration dates could be extended again in the future, pending new data on their viability.
Users of other tests, like Ellume's COVID-19 Home Test, should refer to the expiration date printed on the tests' packaging. If a test truly has expired, the results it delivers cannot be trusted, according to the FDA.
"COVID-19 tests and the parts they are made of may degrade, or break down, over time. Because of this, expired test kits could give inaccurate or invalid test results," the FDA said in a statement on its website.
- Cerullo
- 3 min
Apr 18, 2024 · April 18, 2024 1:30 p.m. PT. 5 min read. The last federal shipment of free COVID tests ended in March, but you can still get free tests. Stephen Shankland/CNET. Even if you're vaccinated against ...
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Sep 27, 2023 · How to order free COVID test kits through USPS. Visit COVID.gov/tests and you will see instructions directing you to a website run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to order a kit that comes with ...
- Mary Kekatos
- 21 sec
Aug 31, 2022 · The FDA says extended expiration dates for government-issued COVID-19 tests “means the manufacturer provided data showing that the shelf-life is longer than was known when the test was first authorized.”. The federal government has announced it will stop providing these free COVID test kits effective Friday, Sept. 2. Storage temperature ...
Sep 20, 2023 · How to order free COVID tests. Four free tests were available for each household to request through the government's COVIDTests.gov portal starting on Monday, Sept. 25, according to a release ...
