The U.S. bought rapid COVID-19 tests to help control the virus. Now many are unused.

The federal government last year distributed millions of rapid antigen tests for diagnosing coronavirus infections, in particular in nursing homes, schools, and prisons. However, some states did not use many of these tests because of logistical reasons and questions about accuracy. The first batches of the tests were shipped to states in September, and they are now approaching their 6-month expiration dates. At least 32 million of the 142 million BinaxNOW rapid COVID-19 tests distributed by the federal government remain unused as of early February, according to a Wall Street Journal assessment. The review estimated the unused tests cost the federal government $160 million. Myra Kunas, Minnesota’s interim public health lab director, says the state’s health department warehoused more than 1.4 million rapid antigen tests, after distributing more than 108,000 to schools, clinics, and other facilities that requested them. Kunas believes there was comparatively less demand for the tests because of the state’s robust testing infrastructure, challenges for facilities in administering the rapid tests, and hurdles to manually reporting results. However, health officials in Arizona, Maine, and Vermont have distributed a majority of their tests, which they say strengthened testing capacity. A few states say they ordered or plan to order more tests. Richard Pescatore, associate state medical director at the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, says: “Antigen testing is one of the most powerful tools we have to hasten control to normalcy.”