Fauci: At Home Tests May Be Less Sensitive To Omicron

Cropped Jernej Furman / CC BY 2.0

WASHINGTON – Doctor Anthony Fauci is encouraging people to continue to use at-home COVID-19 antigen tests after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said that the tests may be less sensitive at detecting the Omicron Variant.

“The tests are still worthwhile. Don’t let anybody think that the FDA was saying that tests are no longer good. They say they’re less sensitive now. They never were 100% sensitive, the antigen tests, everybody knew that,” said Fauci. “What the FDA is saying today is that when you look at Omicron, ability to detect Omicron, some of the tests have a diminution further of the sensitivity, but they still say the tests are useful and should be used.”

The FDA says people should continue to use the tests and be sure to follow the instructions closely.


They go on to say if you have COVID-19 symptoms, or have been exposed to someone with the virus, you should follow up with a molecular test. More studies of the tests are underway.

 



Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the WNY News Now mobile app on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

 

Have a news tip? Email newsdesk@WNYNewsNow.com, send us a message on Facebook, or Twitter.

WNY News Now encourages an open exchange of opinions and ideas on our stories, however, we ask everyone to follow our comment policy.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.