The FDA authorization for emergencies is for Abbott’s BinaxNOW Covid-19 Ag card. The size of a credit card, BinaxNOW will cost $ 5 and will come with a free mobile app that lets people who test negative display a temporary, date-stamped health card that is updated each time a new test is taken.
“The massive scale of this test and app will give tens of millions of people access to rapid and reliable testing,” said Joseph Petrosino, a professor of virology at Baylor College of Medicine, in a statement released by Abbott.
Petrosino’s laboratories are making leading efforts to provide Covid-19 testing for the college and Harris County, including Houston.
“With laboratory-based tests, you get excellent sensitivity, but you may have to wait days or longer to get the results. With a rapid antigen test, you get an immediate result, causing infected people to come off the streets and be quarantined, so they spread the virus, “he said.
The BinaxNOW Covid-19 Ag card is the fourth antigen test that has received an authorization from the FDA.
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