Should older or expired COVID test kits still be used?

Now that we’re into cold and flu season and more people are getting sick, some may be reaching into their medicine cabinets for the COVID-19 test kits they acquired during the pandemic.

But what if they’re expired? And will older test kits even detect newer variants?

Julie Mimeault manages Bradley Pharmacy in Greater Sudbury. She didn’t know COVID test kits had expiry dates.

That pharmacy has two different kinds available and one of the brands is set to expire in three weeks.

“I think that we will be disposing of them because we don’t know what the expiry date entitles or what it does,” Mimeault said.

“We would rather dispose of the tests versus giving false results,” she said.

During the height of the pandemic, she said customers were lining up to get the free kits to test for COVID-19.

“If we look at now, I would say there’s hardly anybody that comes in and looks for them anymore. It’s very rare,” Mimeault said.

Since the pandemic, the province made rapid antigen tests available free for people in the province.

In an email to CTV News, the Ministry of Health said about 74 million of the rapid antigen tests are available.

“There are sufficient RATs to meet demand this respiratory season,” the email said.

Some of the test kits are available at local health units.

According to Public Health Sudbury and Districts, Health Canada granted shelf-life extensions for some brands of COVID test kits and it’s working with manufacturers to understand the impacts of variants.

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“We currently have no evidence that variants are impacting the ability of diagnostic tests to confirm COVID-19,” said health unit spokesperson Afzaa Rajabali.

For those who have expired or older test kits lying around, Rajabali said they can still be used but should be followed up with a newer test to detect COVID-19.