At-home COVID-19 tests hard to come by at local pharmacies, but President Biden says that will change soon
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The White House intends to distribute 500 million at-home COVID-19 tests to Americans starting in January, which is enough to cover the entire U.S. population with at least one test.
This comes as COVID-19 tests are hard to come by in Columbia.
"They only give you so many and the last two days we've sold our allotment by two o'clock," said Bill Morrissey with Kilgore's Pharmacy.
With tests not coming in every day and selling out quickly on days that they are in store, Morrissey suggests making a phone call before you walk in.
ABC 17 News went to six different Columbia pharmacies on Tuesday. Kilgore's and Flows were the only two that had tests in stock while Walgreens, D&H Drugstore, Walmart, and Hy-Vee all were out.
On Tuesday, Kilgore's was selling the QuickVue brand test, but Morrissey said they have received other brands in the past.
Morrissey said with this antigen test, "You got your little test tube, your little swab some solution that you're mixing up and it's kind of like a home lab kit that you're dealing so it's not terribly hard."
The QuickVue test requires a nose swab and the use of solution before getting test results in 10 minutes.
Flow's Pharmacy has carried QuickVue in the past, but on Tuesday had BinaxNOW in stock which is a similar process but takes five minutes longer.
Flow's owner, Anthony Desha, said they have expected another shipment on Wednesday of the QuickVue brand, but prices for tests that would normally cost $15 are now costing $30 because of the high demand.
The at-home tests are antigen tests which are less accurate than a PCR tests that are offered in doctor's offices.
"My understanding of the antigen test is if you get a positive, we're pretty confident that's a positive if you get a negative that's where we see some of them, you didn't have enough of a viral load yet to pop up positive where a PCR test is more sensitive and would catch that," Morrissey said.
Morrissey said the tests come in packs of two so if you get a negative result, it's recommended to do the second test a few days later.
A spokeswoman for Walgreens, Chelsea Morelos, said, "we put in effect a four-item purchase limit on-at-home COVID-19 testing products in our stores and digital properties in an effort to help improve inventory while we continue to work diligently with our supplier partners to best meet customer demands."
HyVee on Broadway St. says it may have more tests on Thursday. Walgreens on Providence St. said it may get more on Saturday.
