These options provide customers with access to convenient testing that can be conducted at home and complement CVS Health's commitment to providing consumers with access to comprehensive COVID-19 testing services. All three tests have received FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA), do not require a prescription, and are intended for use by individuals with or without symptoms. The tests include the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test, the Abbott BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Self Test and the Pixel by Labcorp PCR Test Home Collection Kit. CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), today announced the availability of three over-the-counter COVID-19 testing options in stores and online. Using rapid tests this way will catch 98% of infections, according to the NIH, putting them on par with what they call “the gold standard”: PCRs.Retailer expands access to convenient, at-home testing options with new-to-market, home tests available in stores and online The best way to use rapid tests is to take one every three days, which will ensure you catch different viral load levels. This means rapid tests are best used for those with symptoms their real-world performance is “generally lower” than PCRs, according to the CDC. If a rapid test is taken too soon after infection, the virus may not yet be widely replicated, meaning the test won’t pick it up and will show a false negative. Rapid tests, on the other hand, don’t amplify the virus, making them less sensitive. Where PCR has rapid tests beat: they make many copies of the virus’s genetic material, allowing it to detect even the smallest traces of the virus. For one thing, rapid test results come in minutes PCR tests can take days, and require lining up at testing site or healthcare facility with other potentially ill people. Rapid tests are useful in a different way than polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are done in a clinical setting and sent to a lab. Stores including Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid and Walmart all offer up-to-date inventory information on their respective websites, where customers can find the closest chain location with rapid tests in-stock, or potentially order boxes online. By January 2022, President Biden has said, the government will begin sending out rapid tests for free. Prices for BinaxNOW and other rapid tests start at about $7 per test, though in areas of extreme demand, like New York, that price tag has risen to around $25 or up to $45. Rapid tests, while not perfect, are still an important public health tool, and can be quite accurate when used correctly. This week has been especially crazy, as millions of people hope to test negative before traveling home to see family. The tests, which don’t require a prescription or the filling out of any forms, can be easily taken from home-if you manage to find one in stock.Īmid the recent surge of the highly contagious omicron variant, especially in the Northeast and Midwest regions, demand for rapid tests have gone through the roof, with many people waiting hours in long lines at testing sites to receive one. This holiday season, many retailers, including chains like CVS and Walgreens, superstores like Walmart, and local family-owned pharmacies, sell rapid antigen tests, such as QuickVue, Ellume and BinaxNOW, which offer results in fifteen minutes.
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