Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction and BinaxNOW Rapid Antigen Tests at a Community Site During an Omicron Surge : A Cross-Sectional Study
John Schrom, MPH; Carina Marquez, MD; Genay Pilarowski, PhD; Chung-Yu Wang, MS; Anthea Mitchell, BS;Robert Puccinelli, BS; Doug Black, BA; Susana Rojas; Salustiano Ribeiro, MS; Valerie Tulier-Laiwa, JD; Jacqueline Martinez, BA;Joselin Payan; Susy Rojas, BS; Diane Jones, BSN; Daniel Martinez, JD; Robert Nakamura, PhD; Gabriel Chamie, MD;Vivek Jain, MD; Maya Petersen, MD, PhD; Joe DeRisi, PhD; and Diane Havlir, MD

Annals of Internal Medicine, 2022

Abstract: Background: SARS-CoV-2 rapid antigen tests are an important public health tool. Objective: To evaluate field performance of the BinaxNOW rapid antigen test (Abbott) compared with reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for detecting infection with the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. Design: Cross-sectional surveillance study. Setting: Free, walk-up, outdoor, urban community testing and vaccine site led by Unidos en Salud, serving a predominantly Latinx community highly impacted by COVID-19.