{"id":14068,"date":"2024-10-03T18:49:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-03T18:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=14068"},"modified":"2024-10-03T19:28:59","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T19:28:59","slug":"can-i-still-use-an-expired-covid-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=14068","title":{"rendered":"Can I Still Use an Expired Covid Test?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><\/div>\n<p id=\"article-summary\" class=\"css-79rysd e1wiw3jv0\">The expiration date listed on the box might not be accurate. Here\u2019s what to know.<\/p>\n<section class=\"meteredContent css-1r7ky0e\">\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As the government ships out another <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/26\/well\/free-covid-tests.html\" title>round of free Covid tests,<\/a> some appear to have arrived already expired.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t use them: The Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration dates for many tests after collecting additional data from manufacturers showing their tests remain effective.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt\u2019s important to understand that you can rely on these Covid tests to be accurate,\u201d said Courtney Lias, the director of the office that reviews in vitro diagnostics at the F.D.A.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-1u37br4 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-feb3f65\">How does the F.D.A. confirm tests still work?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Testing kit manufacturers were eager to get on the market as soon as possible at the height of the pandemic, so they submitted their products to the F.D.A. with expiration dates that were only around six months later. But in the years since, manufacturers have conducted additional assessments to confirm the tests work for a longer period of time. The F.D.A. has approved extensions for these tests on a rolling basis, sometimes as long as a year or two past the initially listed expiration date.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"Dropzone-1\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn\" data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">To get an expiration date extended, \u201cthese companies are required to literally take their product and stick it on a shelf and wait,\u201d said Nathaniel Hafer, an associate professor of molecular medicine at the UMass Chan Medical School.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For example, Acon Labs, which makes Flowflex at-home tests, assessed batches of old tests every three months to ensure they still worked, said Michael Lynch, a vice president of sales and marketing at the company. Acon Labs added inactive virus particles to mucus from volunteers and used those samples to confirm the tests continued to produce accurate results. <\/p>\n<div class=\"css-1336jj\">\n<div class=\"css-121kum4\">\n<div class=\"css-171d1bw\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"css-asuuk5\">\n<div class=\"css-7axq9l\" data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-noscript-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1dv1kvn\" id=\"optimistic-truncator-a11y\">\n<hr \/>\n<p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F03%2Fwell%2Fexpired-covid-test.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">log into<\/a>\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F03%2Fwell%2Fexpired-covid-test.html\">subscribe<\/a>\u00a0for all of The Times.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"css-1g71tqy\">\n<div data-testid=\"optimistic-truncator-message\" class=\"css-6yo1no\">\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Already a subscriber?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"log-in-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.nytimes.com\/auth\/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F03%2Fwell%2Fexpired-covid-test.html&amp;asset=opttrunc\">Log in<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-3kpklk\">Want all of The Times?\u00a0<a data-testid=\"subscribe-link\" class=\"css-z5ryv4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2024%2F10%2F03%2Fwell%2Fexpired-covid-test.html\">Subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The expiration date listed on the box might not be accurate. Here\u2019s what to know.As the government ships out another round of free Covid tests, some appear to have arrived already expired.That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t use them: The Food and Drug Administration has extended the expiration dates for many tests after collecting additional data from manufacturers showing their tests remain effective.\u201cIt\u2019s important to understand that you can rely on these Covid tests to be accurate,\u201d said Courtney Lias, the director of the office that reviews in vitro diagnostics at the F.D.A.How does the F.D.A. confirm tests still work?Testing kit manufacturers were eager to get on the market as soon as possible at the height of the pandemic, so they submitted their products to the F.D.A. with expiration dates that were only around six months later. But in the years since, manufacturers have conducted additional assessments to confirm the tests work for a longer period of time. The F.D.A. has approved extensions for these tests on a rolling basis, sometimes as long as a year or two past the initially listed expiration date.To get an expiration date extended, \u201cthese companies are required to literally take their product and stick it on a shelf and wait,\u201d said Nathaniel Hafer, an associate professor of molecular medicine at the UMass Chan Medical School.For example, Acon Labs, which makes Flowflex at-home tests, assessed batches of old tests every three months to ensure they still worked, said Michael Lynch, a vice president of sales and marketing at the company. Acon Labs added inactive virus particles to mucus from volunteers and used those samples to confirm the tests continued to produce accurate results. We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and\u00a0log into\u00a0your Times account, or\u00a0subscribe\u00a0for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber?\u00a0Log in.Want all of The Times?\u00a0Subscribe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14070,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14068"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14071,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14068\/revisions\/14071"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}