In this comparative report, authors investigated the diagnostic value of the Panbio™ COVID-19 antigen rapid test against RT-qPCR. A total of 1367 participants from Utrecht, Netherlands (medium-endemic area) and 208 participants from Aruba (high-endemic area) provided nasopharyngeal swab specimens that underwent parallel RT-qPCR and rapid antigen testing. Results showed that the rapid antigen test had a demonstrated specificity of 100% (95% CI: 99.7-100%) and a demonstrated sensitivity of 72.6% (95% CI: 64.5-79.9%) in the Netherlands; in Aruba, specificity and sensitivity were 100% (95% CI: 97.5-100%) and 81% (95% CI: 69.0-89.8%), respectively. When cycle threshold values were restricted to <32 cycles, sensitivity surpassed 95% at both sites. While authors support the use of RT-qPCR tests in clinical settings, they suggest that the user-friendliness, short turnaround time, and low cost of the rapid antigen test make it a viable alternative to RT-qPCR for conducting community-based surveillance.