The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a rapid COVID-19 test developed by Abbott Laboratories.This is the first antigen test that can be read from a testing card, similar to a home pregnancy test.
The test costs $5, and results take about 15 minutes."This new COVID-19 antigen test is an important addition to available tests because the results can be read in minutes, right off the testing card.
This means people will know if they have the virus in almost real-time," said Jeff Shuren, MD, JD, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in an FDA press release.Yesterday, Abbott said it plans to ship tens of millions of the tests in September and increase production