Mass. among states pursuing rapid antigen tests
PHOTO/EDD COTE
UMass Memorial Health Care set up a coronavirus testing center at its University Campus in March 2020.
Massachusetts is among seven states that are entering formal talks with manufacturers with the goal of facilitating rapid point-of-care antigen tests that could more quickly detect COVID-19 outbreaks in workplaces, schools and congregate care settings.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who announced the interstate testing compact Tuesday, negotiated the agreement with the Rockefeller Foundation in his final days as chairman of the National Governors Association. Plans call for each state to purchase 500,000 tests.
"Increasing both testing capacity and access to testing is a critical part of stopping the spread of COVID-19," Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement. "We are pleased to join this interstate compact and look forward to working with this bipartisan group of governors to collectively build on these shared goals."
Earlier Tuesday, Baker told reporters that "one of the things we are working on developing is an ability to do some rapid mobile testing for schools once schools open." The governor did not elaborate on his intentions.
The governors of Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia are also in the compact, and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced his intent to join Tuesday after the compact was initially announced with the release of a formal but nonbinding letter of intent.
The states are in talks with Becton Dickinson and Quidel, the U.S. manufacturers of the antigen tests, to purchase more than 3 million total tests, which Hogan's office says can deliver results in 15 to 20 minutes.
In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued its first emergency use authorization for a COVID-19 antigen test to Quidel Corporation. The FDA said the new category of diagnostic test could "quickly detect fragments of proteins found on or within the virus by testing samples collected from the nasal cavity using swabs."
At the time, the agency said positive results from antigen tests were highly accurate, but cautioned that "there is a higher chance of false negatives, so negative results do not rule out infection." The agency also said it expected to authorize more antigen tests.
According to Hogan's office, the purchasing agreement shows manufacturers there is demand to scale up production of the tests and the cooperative will help states to buy tests and supplies in a "sustainable and cost-effective manner."
"With severe shortages and delays in testing and the federal administration attempting to cut funding for testing, the states are banding together to acquire millions of faster tests to help save lives and slow the spread of COVID-19," Hogan said. "I want to thank my fellow governors for signing on to this groundbreaking bipartisan agreement, which we have just finalized after weeks of discussions with the Rockefeller Foundation. We will be working to bring additional states, cities, and local governments on board as this initiative moves forward."
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