1M expired COVID tests to be used in Florida after FDA grants new extension, DeSantis says

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BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said 1 cardinal Abbott COVID-19 accelerated tests that expired successful a warehouse successful December are present “going out” to investigating sites aft their usage day was extended to March 2022 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, News4JAX sister presumption WKMG reported.

At a news league Wednesday successful Bonita Springs, DeSantis said the tests are present disposable and volition beryllium sourced “just similar they would person been” if they were authorized earlier.

“Different investigating centers, antithetic region wellness (departments), radical that privation them, (they’re) gonna’ go, but those are not at-home tests, those are older Abbott tests,” DeSantis said. “You can’t conscionable nonstop (them) into people’s homes, it’s virtually a container with similar 40 tests successful it and conscionable 1 small conduit of the solution that you person to enactment successful there, and truthful they truly request to beryllium done by, you know, successful a trial center, oregon they request to beryllium done astatine a region wellness section oregon thing similar that, truthful those are each going out.”

According to a connection from Florida Department of Health Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern, these trial kits volition articulation the others presently being sent to region exigency absorption offices and wellness departments, nationalist information agencies, hospitals and semipermanent attraction facilities.

“On January 10, 2022, with enactment from the authorities of Florida, the shaper received a three-month hold connected the shelf-life expiration day for the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card,” Redfern said. “I besides privation to beryllium wide these tests are NOT at-home tests. They could not person been sent retired to Floridians straight — these tests were produced for investigating sites and necessitate trained professionals to administer them.”

The BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card is advertised on Abbott’s website as “a elemental nasal swab successful the comfortableness and convenience of your home.” WKMG reached retired to the governor’s bureau for remark arsenic to whether the COVID-19 tests successful the warehouse were the nonstop aforesaid product.

“The governor’s connection this greeting was accurate: The trial kits that had expired but were extended, are not at-home tests. They came successful packs of 40 for usage astatine authorized investigating sites,” the governor’s spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said.

When asked if each of the tests volition beryllium utilized earlier their caller expiration date, DeSantis said that it would beryllium contingent connected demand.

“There wasn’t a batch of them being gotten retired due to the fact that radical weren’t asking for them before, truthful I can’t accidental that there’s a warrant but I deliberation that you person a batch higher request for investigating close now,” DeSantis said. “My consciousness is that there’s going to beryllium capable requests to astatine slightest get a batch of those retired the doorway precise very quickly, but I- look, astatine the extremity of the day, you know, they bought excessively many, they did person a surplus for a while, and I deliberation that’s astir apt amended than not.”

You tin find a list of section investigating sites here.

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