COVID-19 Tests

Before tossing out any old at-home COVID tests, you might want to check if the expiration date has been extended.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued guidance on tests’ expiration dates, saying extensions “means the manufacturer provided data showing that the shelf-life is longer than was known when the test was first authorized.”   The FDA has extended the expiration dates of more than half of the 36 approved at-home, over-the-counter COVID tests and said it will continue to update the list as more “shelf-life extensions are authorized.”

To check for your test’s viability – you can go online and search for the specific manufacturer and name matching the test’s box label.  https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-covid-19-and-medical-devices/home-otc-covid-19-diagnostic-tests#list

The iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test – the orange and white boxes that had been given out in Warm Springs – have had some but not all expiration dates pass.  You can check that specific test https://www.fda.gov/media/164551/download?attachment.  Click on the extended expiration date and look for the lot number on your test box.

There is a limited number of COVID-19 tests available in Warm Springs right now.  BinaxNOW tests are available during the workday at Emergency Management next to the old elementary school and also at Community Health in the Health and Wellness Center.  After hours you can get a test at Fire and Safety. Home tests provided for free from the federal government are no longer available.