Published April 19, 2022
Parade Magazine interviewed Thomas A. Russo, MD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, about the longevity of COVID-19 home test kits. Some at-home COVID tests have had their expiration or “use by” date extended after they were put on the market, so if someone has an expired at-home test, it’s a good idea to Google it before throwing it out to make sure it’s truly expired. “My understanding of the at-home rapid tests is that what [the U.S. Food and Drug Administration] wanted was ‘real-time data for stability,’” Dr. Russo says. He explains that this is a prediction of how stable the tests are and will be; info to be assessed and updated in the future based on performance over time.