N.S. parent ‘shocked’ after province sends home seemingly expired COVID-19 rapid tests
Global News
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang says the province is going back to Health Canada and the manufacturer to double check the expiry dates on the tests.
Nova Scotia students in pre-primary to Grade 6 have been given rapid testing kits to take home this week as part of efforts to curb the spread of COVID-19, but the expiry date on those tests is raising concern among some parents.
Stephanie Sudsbury’s four-year-old son recently came home from pre-primary with the rapid testing kits, and she immediately read over the notes on symptoms to look for and how to administer the test if needed.
“At that point I did not look at the expiry date at the test, did not even think about it because in my mind, I’m just getting that test, the last thing I’m going to do is look at that expiry date,” she said.
However, after seeing discussions online about expired kits being sent home, the Lower Sackville parent decided to check her own.
She said she was “shocked” to see hers expired on May 18 of this year.
Included in the testing kits was a note from the province explaining the manufacturer has extended that expiry date by a year.
But in an E-mail to Global News, a spokesperson for BD Life Sciences wrote that while tests were initially approved for a six-month shelf life, they are now good for 12 months. That translates to six months beyond the printed expiry date.
‘So any kit with an expiration date of 2021-05-18 has been extended six months and the new expiration date would be 2021-11-18,” wrote Troy Kirkpatrick.