COVID-19 antigen tests from the federal government will be used in a statewide screening program for first responders, the commissioner of the department of health and human services announced Thursday.
Though slightly less accurate than PCR tests, the gold standard of the gold standard of COVID testing, antigen tests are faster, less expensive, and less complex, making them optimal for large-scale screening in police stations or fire stations.
Jake Leon, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the program is not meant to replace the testing options already available – a frontline worker with symptoms of COVID-19 is not eligible. Rather, the screening program is an additional layer of testing for asymptomatic first responders.
“Because these are critical workforce positions, it’s a way to give them rapid results so if they are not symptomatic, they can go back to work immediately,” he said. “It’s really just meant to complement not replace.”
Lori Shibinette, the commissioner of the department, said she expects between 4,000 and 5,000 first responders, including police officers and EMS workers, to participate in the First Responder Optional Screening Test Program, dubbed FROST. Organizations and individuals are free to opt out of the program.
The FDA authorized the BinaxNOW rapid antigen test card in August, which provides results within 15 minutes of a quick nose swab. Gov. Chris Sununu has said he expects 400,000 of these tests to be delivered to the state by the end of the year.
Shibinette said they are in the process of training test administers to accurately give the test. BinaxNOW cards will be distributed to local fire, police, and EMS workers in the coming weeks, after which they will be able to do monthly screenings for the virus. Fire and police academies in the state will be the first groups to start testing.
In a health alert released last week, the DHHS said antigen tests generally should not be used to test asymptomatic people due to “limited data and presumed lower sensitivity and specificity.” Antigen tests are slightly more likely to produce false negatives, or to miss signs of the virus: about 3% of people who test negative for the virus would test positive using a PCR test, according to FDA statistics.
However, the document also noted that when organizations are trying to control the spread of COVID-19, like in the case of police officers and hockey teams, asymptomatic antigen testing could be used to quickly provide results for large groups.
According to state guidelines, positive antigen tests should be confirmed with a PCR test within 24 hours. Negative tests do not need to be confirmed.
In addition to the monthly screening program, the rapid antigen tests will be distributed to home care providers and New Hampshire hospitals to help test elderly or disabled Granite Staters who cannot easily get to a testing site.
Shibinette said next week, the department will start expanding the distribution of these tests to county jails and state prison, residential programs, and health centers, so they can begin utilizing the rapid antigen tests as well. Currently, the department does not have plans to expand the testing to nursing homes, Leon said.
Some rapid antigen tests from the federal government have already been distributed to community testing sites throughout the state and the National Guard drive-thru testing sites in Londonderry and Concord.