Some free government-issued COVID at-home tests are expiring

BOSTON - If you recently received free government-issued COVID test kits, check the expiration dates on the back. Some may have expired or they may be expiring soon. 

The FDA did extend the shelf life of some kits by six months last summer, but even then, many of those kits are past their "use by" dates now. 

The FDA has a website that allows you to look up your kit's lot number to determine the extended expiration date and if your kit is past this date, you really should throw it away. 

Also, if you run a test, expired or not, and the control line isn't clear or is wonky or absent, don't trust the result.

If you think you have symptoms of COVID or a recent exposure and an expired kit reads "negative," you should retest with a viable kit or get a PCR test at a local pharmacy or testing site instead.

In:
• COVID-19

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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