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A survey by the Brazilian Chamber of Laboratory Diagnostics (CBDL) published on Friday (27) indicates that there are at least 15 million tests for Covid-19 close to the expiration date in Brazil. Expiration dates run from this month to March 2021.
The 15 million figure includes rapid antibody tests, laboratory tests for serology and PCR tests, considered the “gold” standard for diagnosing the disease. The latter represent 60% of exams with a close due date, according to CBDL (see graph).
Covid-19 tests close to validity (by type)
The survey points to at least 15 million exams with a close due date
Source: Brazilian Chamber of Laboratory Diagnostics (CBDL)
Of the 15 million tests, 6.8 million are PCR-type tests found in a Ministry of Health warehouse, as revealed by the newspaper “O Estado de S. Paulo” last Sunday (22) (see video below).
The other 8 million are with manufacturers, importers or private laboratories associated with the chamber that has already acquired the evidence, says the president of CBDL, Carlos Eduardo Gouvêa.
Emphasize that There may be even more tests with a close expiration date in the country that the entity does not know – or with partner companies that did not respond to the survey or with companies that have evidence close to winning and are not associated with CBDL. The organization represents 70% to 80% of companies in the industry, according to Gouvêa.
Nearly 7 million covid tests may expire in a federal government shed
“I think there are still big companies among our associates who did not speak, because they are waiting to see where it is going and they did not want to open the number at this time,” says Gouvêa.
The president of the entity also adds that, during the pandemic, several companies that were not in the segment of diagnostic tests imported the tests. “This number has no way of getting an idea,” he says.
“This number of 15 million is conservative … and it’s already scary,” says Carlos Eduardo Gouvêa. He estimates that the loss from discarding all the tests would be R $ 1.5 billion.
Validity extension
Health agent examines a woman for Covid-19 in the Santa Marta favela, in Rio de Janeiro, on October 9. – Photo: Pilar Olivares / Reuters
Talks are being held with the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) to extend the expiration date of the tests. This is because, in March, the agency passed a resolution establishing the preliminary (notarial) validity period of 6 months for the exams.
The measure was taken as a precaution, until studies on the stability of the tests could show that they would remain effective after this period. If these studies were done, the validity of the tests could be extended.
On Wednesday (25), the Ministry of Health announced that the Korean manufacturer Seegene has certified the extension, for another four months, of the validity of the 6.8 million tests that stop with the pasta. The report must be sent to Anvisa for its technical evaluation.
According to Gouvêa, from CBDL, a meeting of the entity with Anvisa is scheduled for next Thursday (3) to discuss the extension of the validity periods of the exam.
