1 million COVID tests that expired in a Florida warehouse get FDA approval for use
CBSN
Florida officials confirmed last week that between 800,000 and 1 million COVID tests had expired in a warehouse just before the New Year due to "low demand." On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration issued an extension for those tests, saying they can still be used.
The Florida Department of Health provided documents from the FDA to CBS affiliate WTSP, in which the agency says that the thousands of BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card tests can be used until March.
The tests, according to Florida Department of Health Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern, are pre-packaged kits that have to be administered by "trained individuals," and are not designed for individual use. Redfern told WTSP that the shelf life of the tests was originally extended in April, and they expired in September 2021. The state then asked for another extension, Kevin Guthrie, director of Florida's Division of Emergency Management, said last week.
Firefighters across California are working to extinguish blazes that broke out over the weekend and continued to grow on Monday, as the state contends with a mix of hot, dry weather and powerful, gusty winds. The Post Fire, burning near Gorman, northwest of Los Angeles, spread to more than 14,600 acres, while the Point Fire, in Sonoma, covered 1,190 acres.