Optum out of stock - Emed purchase problem Question

[turquoisewater]

In the FAQ section at EMed there is one regarding when the tests expire.  Within that is a link to a letter from the FDA dated January 7, 2022 notifying Abbot of the approval to update the shelf life expiration date of the test kits to 15 months.  I sent an email to EMed asking for further clarification on this, but has anybody else found out anything about this?  I have some test kits that I thought would expire on February 8th, but if I am interpreting this letter correctly, I think they will be good for some time beyond that.

[NancyIL]

I ordered the 6-pack of tests from eMed on January 7, and they still haven’t shipped. Meanwhile, I cancelled our Feb. 5 cruise, so now won’t need them until May.  They shouldn’t have charged my credit card until they had a product to ship. 

[cookiersmom]

Does each traveler need their own Navica account?   And can you have two on the same smartphone?

thx

[pstone1]

49 minutes ago, NancyIL said:

I ordered the 6-pack of tests from eMed on January 7, and they still haven’t shipped. Meanwhile, I cancelled our Feb. 5 cruise, so now won’t need them until May.  They shouldn’t have charged my credit card until they had a product to ship. 

That’s very strange.  I ordered a 6-pack of tests from eMed on January 15th and received them on January 19th. It’s the third time I have purchased a 6 pack of tests from eMed, and each time, I have received them within days of ordering.  Something is definitely wrong!

[TomCruise48]

25 minutes ago, cookiersmom said:

Does each traveler need their own Navica account?   And can you have two on the same smartphone?

thx

Yes to both.

[NancyIL]

35 minutes ago, pstone1 said:

That’s very strange.  I ordered a 6-pack of tests from eMed on January 15th and received them on January 19th. It’s the third time I have purchased a 6 pack of tests from eMed, and each time, I have received them within days of ordering.  Something is definitely wrong!

Thank you for that info! I’ll call eMed tomorrow. 

[brillohead]

9 hours ago, cookiersmom said:

Does each traveler need their own Navica account?   And can you have two on the same smartphone?

thx

You can set up the Navica account to have more than one profile if you want, so you only need one account but have multiple family members whose results get sent to that account.

[ReneeFLL]

20 hours ago, sandebeach said:

I received my 6-pack two weeks ago. My expiration date is November 2022.

 

20 hours ago, lwuest said:

Just got mine a few days ago.  Expiration date is 11/22

 

20 hours ago, pcur said:

The expiration dates, according to the Optum customer service person I talked to a few weeks ago, are November/December 2022.  I called to make sure they would cover all my cruise and family travel dates.  I then ordered 8 for myself, and they expire 11/15/22.

Thank for the expiration date info.

[publicpersona]

22 hours ago, micruiser2002 said:

Just select the option that you are buying for yourself.  I do not even know why they ask this question or for this info.  

 

At one point, at least, a prescription was required to use the tests. That's why they want a name. As a practical matter, it hasn't made any difference what name you put down or who uses the test.

[turquoisewater]

13 hours ago, turquoisewater said:

In the FAQ section at EMed there is one regarding when the tests expire.  Within that is a link to a letter from the FDA dated January 7, 2022 notifying Abbot of the approval to update the shelf life expiration date of the test kits to 15 months.  I sent an email to EMed asking for further clarification on this, but has anybody else found out anything about this?  I have some test kits that I thought would expire on February 8th, but if I am interpreting this letter correctly, I think they will be good for some time beyond that.

I got my response from Emed:  Thank you for contacting eMed. 
 
 
I understand you may have some concerns about the expiration date on your BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card  HOME TEST kits.  
 
The BinaxNow COVID-19 test kits were originally made in a bulk in late 2020 thru early 2021 and was approved for testing by the FDA under the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization).  The test kits have an original expiration date of September 2021, October 2021, and November 2021.  Effective immediately, these expiration dates have since been extended for an additional 6 months by the FDA making the new expiration dates **March 2022, April 2022, and May 2022. 
 
**The new expiration date will be determined by the date you have on each test kit. Please take a look at second line of the white label to find the original expiration date. Once you locate the original expiration date, you can add an additional 6 months to that date. 
 
For example, if if your current expiration date is September 6, 2021, your new expiration date is now March 6, 2022.
 
Please note, if your purchase was made on or after December 1, 2021, you should have received test kits with an expiration date in October 2022 or November 2022.  These particular kits are not under the extension at this time since they were just recently manufactured.
 
When you are ready to test, please visit www.emed.com and click on "start testing".  Once your test kit expiration date falls within the afore mentioned dates, you will be able to test with no issues.
 
For more information regarding the extension date extension, you may visit www.fda.gov or click on the actual link to the FDA extension letter:  https://www.fda.gov/media/155326/download
 
 
Thank you for choosing eMed.
 
 
Best,
eMed Customer Support Team

[SRF]

This will be a bummer.

 

I will need tests for two of us for an April and late November cruise.

 

So if I order now, they will likely expire just before I need them in November.

 

I am hoping they will make tests each month so soon they will be shipping tests that expire in Dec 2022.

[Starry Eyes]

21 minutes ago, SRF said:

This will be a bummer.

 

I will need tests for two of us for an April and late November cruise.

 

So if I order now, they will likely expire just before I need them in November.

 

I am hoping they will make tests each month so soon they will be shipping tests that expire in Dec 2022.

 

22 minutes ago, SRF said:

This will be a bummer.

 

I will need tests for two of us for an April and late November cruise.

 

So if I order now, they will likely expire just before I need them in November.

 

I am hoping they will make tests each month so soon they will be shipping tests that expire in Dec 2022.

Not that you need to order right away for your April cruise, but whenever you do likely will not have a problem.

 

Remember, early this month these Binax Now tests kits received approval for an additional 3 month expiration extension.  So, test produced in mid Nov 2021 which were originally marked with 12 month expiration dates in mid Nov 2022 will now have extended expiration dates to mid Feb 2023 (15 months total), as an example.  (Older kits had 9 months on label, so they are good for 6 months past printed expiration date, to total 15 months). As new kits are produced starting this month, they will be marked with the correct 15 month expiration date.  One will have to be attentive to manufacture and printed expiration date to tell when new FDA approved out date will occur.

 

 

[vplsh]

1 hour ago, turquoisewater said:

I got my response from Emed:  Thank you for contacting eMed. 
 
 
I understand you may have some concerns about the expiration date on your BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card  HOME TEST kits.  
 
The BinaxNow COVID-19 test kits were originally made in a bulk in late 2020 thru early 2021 and was approved for testing by the FDA under the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization).  The test kits have an original expiration date of September 2021, October 2021, and November 2021.  Effective immediately, these expiration dates have since been extended for an additional 6 months by the FDA making the new expiration dates **March 2022, April 2022, and May 2022. 
 
**The new expiration date will be determined by the date you have on each test kit. Please take a look at second line of the white label to find the original expiration date. Once you locate the original expiration date, you can add an additional 6 months to that date. 
 
For example, if if your current expiration date is September 6, 2021, your new expiration date is now March 6, 2022.
 
Please note, if your purchase was made on or after December 1, 2021, you should have received test kits with an expiration date in October 2022 or November 2022.  These particular kits are not under the extension at this time since they were just recently manufactured.
 
When you are ready to test, please visit www.emed.com and click on "start testing".  Once your test kit expiration date falls within the afore mentioned dates, you will be able to test with no issues.
 
For more information regarding the extension date extension, you may visit www.fda.gov or click on the actual link to the FDA extension letter:  https://www.fda.gov/media/155326/download
 
 
Thank you for choosing eMed.
 
 
Best,
eMed Customer Support Team

This is such helpful information. Thank you for sharing it. We have two tests left that have current expiration dates of October 2021, so we can still use them until April, which will cover our next cruise in March!!

[NancyIL]

13 hours ago, pstone1 said:

That’s very strange.  I ordered a 6-pack of tests from eMed on January 15th and received them on January 19th. It’s the third time I have purchased a 6 pack of tests from eMed, and each time, I have received them within days of ordering.  Something is definitely wrong!

 

 I called eMed this morning and was told, "We're experiencing delays." When I mentioned I knew of "someone" who ordered  test kits on Jan. 15th and received them on the 19th, I was told they could "escalate" my order. However, since we cancelled our Feb. 5 cruise after ordering the tests, and won't need them until late April at the earliest - I cancelled our order.

[micruiser2002]

1 hour ago, SRF said:

This will be a bummer.

 

I will need tests for two of us for an April and late November cruise.

 

So if I order now, they will likely expire just before I need them in November.

 

I am hoping they will make tests each month so soon they will be shipping tests that expire in Dec 2022.

I ordered a 6 pack a couple of weeks ago and they expire December 9, 2022.

[SRF]

49 minutes ago, Starry Eyes said:

 

Not that you need to order right away for your April cruise, but whenever you do likely will not have a problem.

 

Remember, early this month these Binax Now tests kits received approval for an additional 3 month expiration extension.  So, test produced in mid Nov 2021 which were originally marked with 12 month expiration dates in mid Nov 2022 will now have extended expiration dates to mid Feb 2023 (15 months total), as an example.  (Older kits had 9 months on label, so they are good for 6 months past printed expiration date, to total 15 months). As new kits are produced starting this month, they will be marked with the correct 15 month expiration date.  One will have to be attentive to manufacture and printed expiration date to tell when new FDA approved out date will occur.

 

It seems you did not read the response posted from eMed:

 

[quote]Please note, if your purchase was made on or after December 1, 2021, you should have received test kits with an expiration date in October 2022 or November 2022.  These particular kits are not under the extension at this time since they were just recently manufactured.[/quote]

 

[Starry Eyes]

2 hours ago, SRF said:

 

It seems you did not read the response posted from eMed:

 

[quote]Please note, if your purchase was made on or after December 1, 2021, you should have received test kits with an expiration date in October 2022 or November 2022.  These particular kits are not under the extension at this time since they were just recently manufactured.[/quote]

 

Sorry, I did miss that

[rj59]

If you're concerned about ordering too many, just use optum, where you can order as few as 2. I got a set of 3 last week. If you have extras that you aren't going to use, you can take them on your cruise and test yourself if you develop any symptoms, to avoid unnecessary stress or quarantine--same with the free tests being shipped out to everyone. I used one of my soon-to-expire emeds to test after my last cruise, since I had a runny noise and slightly sore throat and wanted reassurance before being around others.

I've been able to schedule free tests through Walgreen's for all but a cruise around Christmas, where I had a test appointment canceled, so I used an emed test as my backup. With Walgreen's I make sure to keep track of the day when appointments are going to open in my 2-day window, and this morning I got up at 3 am to book a test before they disappeared. It might be worth keeping a backup backup, like testing at LAX for those going out of LA, or local mobile testers that work at the ports, or other paid antigen testers in your home town. 

Since the CSO has expired, it would be nice if a cruise line could show the initiative to go back to the 3-day window for testing, which would allow people to get PCR tests or for those who want to leave earlier to get to a port and who don't want to risk testing positive away from home, with all the costs of quarantine and changing airline tickets. 

[Starry Eyes]

3 hours ago, SRF said:

 

It seems you did not read the response posted from eMed:

 

[quote]Please note, if your purchase was made on or after December 1, 2021, you should have received test kits with an expiration date in October 2022 or November 2022.  These particular kits are not under the extension at this time since they were just recently manufactured.[/quote]

 

I have thought further about this.  We should have an actual list of batch numbers with new precise expiration dates from the manufacture, Abbott.  That was available after the first extension and should made available again.  I emailed Abbott last week but have not yet received a response nor have I found it on the web.  Unless Abbott changed the formulation of the kits (which might require a new FDA approval and would likely have a different test code), I am puzzled as to why the more people recently manufactured tests would not qualify for the 15 month expiration date.  Not the first time this week I have been puzzled, but after my career in medical laboratories, point of care test expiration dates are not generally puzzling to me.

 

 

[turquoisewater]

3 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

I have thought further about this.  We should have an actual list of batch numbers with new precise expiration dates from the manufacture, Abbott.  That was available after the first extension and should made available again.  I emailed Abbott last week but have not yet received a response nor have I found it on the web.  Unless Abbott changed the formulation of the kits (which might require a new FDA approval and would likely have a different test code), I am puzzled as to why the more people recently manufactured tests would not qualify for the 15 month expiration date.  Not the first time this week I have been puzzled, but after my career in medical laboratories, point of care test expiration dates are not generally puzzling to me.

 

 

Starry Eyes, please share if you are successful at finding or receiving such a list.  I have been looking and looking for the 15 month extension for ones other than the Part 195-000 list.  Emed and Optum have both assured me that those lots for Part 195-100 are included in the 15 month extension but I would like to see the list with my lot number listed.

[Starry Eyes]

2 minutes ago, turquoisewater said:

Starry Eyes, please share if you are successful at finding or receiving such a list.  I have been looking and looking for the 15 month extension for ones other than the Part 195-000 list.  Emed and Optum have both assured me that those lots for Part 195-100 are included in the 15 month extension but I would like to see the list with my lot number listed.

If I acquire the lot number list, I will share it here on cruise critic.

[Exuma Girl]

Back in stock!

[pstone1]

9 hours ago, NancyIL said:

 

 I called eMed this morning and was told, "We're experiencing delays." When I mentioned I knew of "someone" who ordered  test kits on Jan. 15th and received them on the 19th, I was told they could "escalate" my order. However, since we cancelled our Feb. 5 cruise after ordering the tests, and won't need them until late April at the earliest - I cancelled our order.

I’m glad you got it straightened out!  I’m glad our tests came quickly but I never asked for any kind of “escalated” service.  Hope you get yours promptly when you order them the next time.

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, SRF said:

This will be a bummer.

 

I will need tests for two of us for an April and late November cruise.

 

So if I order now, they will likely expire just before I need them in November.

 

I am hoping they will make tests each month so soon they will be shipping tests that expire in Dec 2022.

If not, I can sell you some of my extra tests for your April cruise, and then you can just buy the November tests later on in the year.  

[SRF]

18 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

I have thought further about this.  We should have an actual list of batch numbers with new precise expiration dates from the manufacture, Abbott.  That was available after the first extension and should made available again.  I emailed Abbott last week but have not yet received a response nor have I found it on the web.  Unless Abbott changed the formulation of the kits (which might require a new FDA approval and would likely have a different test code), I am puzzled as to why the more people recently manufactured tests would not qualify for the 15 month expiration date.  Not the first time this week I have been puzzled, but after my career in medical laboratories, point of care test expiration dates are not generally puzzling to me.

 

 

It may be a one off extension due to availability.

 

Or, it may require some downstream testings of each batch at some point to extend the allowable life.

 

It would be GREAT if the new ones would be good for 15 months, as I would order a 6 pack now for both our cruises.