PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Department of Public Health is recalling thousands of COVID-19 tests that it distributed because they are counterfeit.
Officials said staff members were conducting a routine shelf-life extension check of the test kits and found that a particular lot was not listed on the FDA’s shelf-life extension database. A sample determined the test lot number was “not authentic.”
The department received 105,000 of these invalid tests, which came from a “long-time distributor.” About 4,000 of them were distributed by the department, and an additional amount of tests were given to community groups and organizations.
The bogus kits are by Flowflex COVID-19 Antigen Home Tests, with the lot number COV2110012.
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Health officials say these tests should be thrown away. People can get new tests for free at one of the city’s five resource hubs.
“One of the most important things that Philadelphians can do to prepare their families for the fall and winter COVID season is to have at-home testing kits on hand,” Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole said in a statement. “That’s why [we’re] working to make sure that our community partners and the public are aware of this recall: because not only should you have tests at home in case someone is feeling under the weather, but you should have faith that those tests can correctly diagnose you.”