While a surge in COVID-19 cases coincided with the return to school from winter break for many students, leaving people across the country searching for tests amid a shortage, Florida let 1 million of those tests expire.
A top state official confirmed Thursday the tests, manufactured by Abbott Laboratories, had expired. Florida Department of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie said during a news conference that they expired between Dec. 26 and Dec. 30, according to CNN.
Demand for the tests in Florida became low when cases fell in the fall.
“No one really wanted them for many, many months,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been critical of vaccine and mask mandates, said Friday.
However, the omicron variant has led to a surge in the past weeks and therefore a demand for tests in the state and elsewhere.
Even as the tests sat in the warehouse on Dec, 26, the Associated Press reported long lines in Florida for people looking to get tested for COVID-19.
By Dec. 30, State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried – a Democratic candidate for governor in Florida this November – said that she knew the state had a stock of expiring testing kits. She encouraged DeSantis to give local testing sites the supply to alleviate the long lines.
“It's come to my attention that (Nikki Fried) needs to turn on that blinker and get back in her lane,” Florida Department of Health official Jeremy Redfern wrote in a Dec. 30 tweet.
DeSantis quickly turned the microphone over to Guthrie when questioned about Fried’s allegation Thursday during a news conference in West Palm Beach.
“It's bad enough that Governor DeSantis has deprioritized testing with omicron exploding across Florida, but it's an absolute disgrace for the Governor and his communications team to have lied and covered up the massive failure of a million unused tests while Floridians wait in hours-long lines for local tests that are running out,” said Fried in a statement.
Over the past week, Florida averaged 37,563 new cases a day according to Johns Hopkins University data cited by CNN. A new report from public health experts at the University of Florida predicts more cases are to come, “potentially infecting most of the state's population.”
Data suggests that the omicron variant causes less severe illness than other forms of SARS CoV-2, though it is highly transmissible. However, omicron infections can still lead to severe illness and death. Some models suggest that the omicron wave could even be the second deadliest of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CNN asked the Florida Department of Emergency Management if the state had considered sharing the tests before they expired and had not received an answer as of Friday. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also did not confirm any national protocol for redistributing unused tests.
Guthrie said the state has asked the federal government for a three-month extension of the expiration date of the expired tests – which it previously did in September – but has not received a response. However, the tests may not be accurate at this point.
DeSantis announced on Thursday that his administration plans to distribute 1 million at-home COVID-19 tests to assisted living facilities and other elder care providers over the weekend. His administration said the CareStart COVID-19 Antigen tests were acquired from CDR Health. The governor did not say how much the tests cost.
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo released new guidance Thursday for testing. This guidance discouraged people without symptoms from getting tested, even if they reported a recent exposure. DeSantis said people at highest risk for hospitalization or death should have access to tests.
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