FDA Authorizes Inexpensive Over-the-Counter Rapid COVID-19 Tests

FDA Authorizes Inexpensive Over-the-Counter Rapid COVID-19 Tests.

The FDA has reportedly approved two more rapid COVID-19 tests for at-home use.

.

QuickVue by Quidel and BinaxNow by Abbott will now be available without a prescription.

.

The kits include a nasal swab and test strip which can determine results in as little as 10 minutes.

.

They will be sold in packs of two in order to account for possible false results.

These kits have been on the market for a while, but they were previously only available to those who were exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.

According to Abbott, the test kits will have a price in the “single digits” and be widely available in pharmacies, grocery stores and elsewhere.

.

Vaccines are incredibly important but they are not the end-all, be-all to this pandemic … We need other tools in our arsenal and the widespread availability and rapid scale up of tests for people to use in the privacy of their homes is going to be an extraordinary gain, Dr. Michael Mina, Harvard, to AP