Performance Evaluation of Five Rapid At-Home COVID-19 Antigen Tests against the Omicron Variant
Victor A. Sugiharto, Stephanie Gatrell, Huawei Chen, Gabrielle R. Blazek, Amanda M Cherry, Megan A. Schilling
Abstract
The emergence of the Omicron variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is due to mutations as part of the virus evolution process. These mutations might affect the sensitivity of diagnostic tests that are currently being used to detect the virus. Because rapid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) antigen tests are commonly used in the general population, it is important to assess their performance in detecting the Omicron variant. Here, we compared the performance of five brands of rapid tests against Omicron and non-Omicron variants using nasopharyngeal swab samples in viral transport media. Our result found no difference in their performance, suggesting no reduction in sensitivity when used to detect the Omicron variant.