Struggling to find coronavirus test? You’re not alone, thanks to the delta variant
Consumers can test themselves with rapid antigen kits sold at national chain pharmacies and retailers, but they’re selling as fast as they are stocked. Antigen test makers scaled back manufacturing this spring and are hustling to fire up factories to meet rising demand.
“Everyone assumed when we got to April and May there wouldn’t be a need for widespread testing,” said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Some worry the high percentage of positive tests in the USA means too many people are foregoing testing because it’s too hard to get an appointment. More than 10% of U.S. residents who have been tested for the coronavirus since the first week of August were infected. That’s double the World Health Organization’s benchmark for sufficient testing, according to Johns Hopkins University. When the positive rate is higher than the WHO’s target rate of 5%, that might mean only the sickest individuals are getting tested, and others who show minor or no symptoms are spreading the virus without knowing it. “Positivity has climbed to highs that we haven’t seen since the big winter surge,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “Positivity for me, above all, is a measure of whether we are doing enough testing. As it starts to creep up, that suggests we need to cast a wider and wider net to find infections.” In addition to the delta variant, several factors appear to be influencing the uptick in testing. Some large school districts are testing incoming students, teachers and staff as the fall semester begins. More employers mandate that workers either get vaccinated or submit to periodic testing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said even vaccinated people should get tested if they’re exposed to someone with COVID-19, a reversal from its earlier guidance. Many sites had shut down. Others had limited hours and required appointments. Demand is “comparatively high” at labs in the Southeast and Southwest, where the New Jersey-based company said it will add testing capacity to keep pace. A company spokesman said Abbott seeks to “scale up on a dime” to make enough BinaxNow tests for retailers such as CVS and Walgreens. The kit is for sale on Amazon, but it could take up to three weeks to get one. “We’re hiring people and turning on parts of our manufacturing network that were idled or slowed when guidance changed and demand plunged,” Abbott spokesman John Koval said. “While there will be some supply constraints over the coming weeks as we ramp back up, we are putting resources from all over the company to help meet this unprecedented demand.” Quidel CEO Douglas Bryant said retail sales for the San Diego-based company’s home coronavirus tests have increased tenfold over the past few weeks. “We’re obviously ramping up manufacturing again,” he said. Like others, Quidel anticipated less testing this spring and summer. The company must contact its suppliers and reorder material. Those suppliers, in turn, must hire workers and restart production. “All of the manufacturers, including ourselves, are in a state of flux,” Bryant said. “We’re trying to pivot and trying to react quickly, doing the best we can without a whole lot of real understanding of what’s going to be needed.” NN: We are in stock of both the BinaxNOW and the QuickView home test kits kit. Our inventory is around 150 units. Stock up now because all out sources are back ordered, In fact they are not taking orders or giving us a delivery date. Retailers like Amazon, Walmart and CVS pharmacy have stopped online sales and if you can find inventory you must go all the way to the store and are limited to one test kit. STOCK UP TODAY