Don’t automatically throw out that old COVID-19 at-home test you just came across in your medicine cabinet.

It might still be good, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Some over-the-counter COVID tests have had their expiration dates extended beyond the date displayed on packaging, the FDA said.

The FDA has set up a website people can use to check and see if their COVID tests are still good, or if they’ve expired and need to be replaced.

“Search the current list of authorized at-home COVID-19 tests that have extended expiration dates,” the FDA said in a consumer advisory. “If your at-home tests do not have an extended expiration date and they have expired, do not use them.”

The expiration date on a test’s packaging reflects its expected shelf-life — how long an individual test should work as expected from the date of its manufacture.

However, some test expirations have been extended based on data provided by manufacturers showing that the shelf-life is longer than what was known when the test first received FDA authorization.

Cards reminding people to check test expiration dates also are being included in the free test kit packages that the U.S. government started shipping in late September.

American households can once again order four free COVID-19 tests by going to COVIDTests.gov, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“The tests you receive may show expired dates on the box,” reads the card included with the free tests. “The FDA has extended those dates.”

The federal government restarted the free COVID test program in preparation for this year’s cold and flu season, as well as the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings that will bring many into close proximity with each other.

“Use an at-home test if you feel sick, have symptoms of COVID-19 or have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19 and you do not have symptoms,” the FDA says in its advisory.

Federal health officials also encourage people to get the new COVID vaccine, which targets the most dominant strains of the coronavirus.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more on at-home COVID tests.

SOURCE: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, news release, Oct. 29, 2024

Source: HealthDay

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