Now that allergy season is right here, many are discovering themselves with signs asking: Is it allergic reactions or a chilly? COVID? One thing else? Since allergic reactions, colds and COVID can have signs that overlap, it may be tough to determine what you may have. That is when an at-home COVID check can turn out to be useful. Even when yours says it is expired, many assessments have had their shelf lives prolonged previous the expiration date.
To find out whether or not your COVID check remains to be usable, you possibly can examine the at-home COVID-19 assessments listed on the FDA’s web site to see which manufacturers have had their shelf lives prolonged.
What do COVID-19 check expiration dates imply?
The expiration date listed in your field of COVID-19 assessments is the final day the check is anticipated to carry out successfully. Typically, the FDA authorizes at-home check kits with a shelf lifetime of about 4 to 6 months, however that shelf life might be prolonged if the producer finds extra information that reveals the assessments are nonetheless correct previous the expiration date.
Can I exploit a COVID check equipment after it expires?
Until the FDA has prolonged the shelf lifetime of your field of COVID-19 assessments, it is not beneficial you utilize them after they’ve expired. Here is why: The COVID-19 check components might degrade or break down over time, resulting in inaccurate or invalid check outcomes.
See under to seek out out in case your field of COVID-19 assessments remains to be OK to make use of, because it’s potential the expiration date has been prolonged.
How do I do know if the shelf lifetime of my COVID assessments has been prolonged?
If the producer finds that the shelf life is longer than the anticipated 4 to 6 months, it could possibly request that the FDA authorize an prolonged expiration date. As soon as that occurs, the producer might notify prospects of the brand new expiration dates. Nevertheless, in the event you did not purchase the assessments by way of the producer, you seemingly will not obtain any notifications.
For the most recent info on the expiration dates to your COVID-19 check kits, you should definitely examine the FDA’s At-Dwelling OTC COVID-19 Diagnostic Checks webpage.
On that web page, the FDA web page lists COVID-19 assessments alphabetically, or you should utilize a search field to seek out your check immediately. Within the far proper column of a desk, the FDA lists the shelf life for every check and whether or not it has been prolonged. If the expiration date has been prolonged, a further hyperlink is usually supplied with info on the precise expiration dates for particular check heaps.
The hyperlinks under embody lot numbers and expiration dates for the manufacturers of at-home COVID-19 assessments which have had their expiration dates prolonged by the FDA.
In the event you do not see something on the FDA web page, you can too examine the producer to see in the event that they’ve posted a letter from the FDA that their assessments have been prolonged.
Easy methods to discover lot quantity on COVID check
You possibly can discover the lot quantity to your at-home COVID check on its field, normally on a sticker with its expiration date. It could be a mixture of each numbers and letters. In keeping with the FDA, “In case your lot quantity and/or authentic expiration date don’t seem, or if the Expiration Date column states ‘Expiration Date: See field label,’ don’t use the check past the unique expiration date in your check.”