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Not exactly. Once a COVID-19 check has been approved and used for a year or more, the manufacturer can use their knowledge to ask the Food and Drug Administration to extend its shelf life. Of the 22 COVID household checks indexed on the FDA’s website, nine of them have had their shelf life extended since launch, adding iHealth, one of the most common home control providers on early loose shipments.
Read on to find out what THE DUE DATES OF COVID household checks mean and what due dates were extended based on FDA data.
The due date listed on your COVID-19 checkbox is the last day the check works effectively. Typically, the FDA allows home verification kits with a shelf life of about 4 to six months, but this shelf life can be extended if the manufacturer discovers more knowledge that it appears that checks remain accurate after the expiration date.
No. La FDA does not present expired COVID-19 home checks. Here’s why: Parts of COVID-19 checks can degrade or break down over time, resulting in erroneous or invalid check results.
Again, it’s imaginable that the expiration dates of the home’s COVID-19 verification kits will drag on as more information is collected, but for now, you shouldn’t use an overdue check. But, if your box of verification kits shows a beyond the expiration date, check out this list of extended expiration dates from the FDA to see if you can use your own (see below).
If the manufacturer finds that the shelf life is longer than the expected 4 to 6 months, it can ask the FDA to allow an extended expiration date. Once this happens, the manufacturer can notify consumers of the new expiration dates. However, if you did not purchase the tests through the manufacturer, you will not get any notification.
For data on the expiration dates of your COVID-19 kits, be sure to check the FDA’s COVID-19 home diagnostic testing webpage.
On this page, the FDA page lists COVID-19 checks in alphabetical order, or you can use a search box to locate your check directly. In the rightmost column of a table, the FDA lists the shelf life of the check and whether it has been extended. If the due date has been extended, an additional link will provide data on the precise due dates for quick check lots.
The links below include the lot numbers and expiration dates of the nine brands of COVID-19 home checks whose shelf life has been extended through the FDA. You can place the lot number of your COVID home check in your box, on a label with its expiration date.
We will continue to update this list if the FDA extends the shelf life of any other COVID-19 antigen test.
To be more informed about COVID-19Array, here’s how to pay for COVID at home with your FSA or HSA.