Why You Can't Find Cheap At-Home Covid Tests

[StarryNite]

It would be so helpful if we had rapid tests available at a cheap price.


Why You Can’t Find Cheap At-Home Covid Tests

By Rachana Pradhan and Hannah Norman
NOVEMBER 22, 2021

While developing a rapid test that detects the coronavirus in someone’s saliva, Blink Science, a Florida-based startup, heard something startling: The Food and Drug Administration had more than 3,000 emergency use authorization applications and didn’t have the resources to get through them.

“We want to try to avoid the EUA quagmire,” said Peb Hendrix, the startup’s vice president of operations. Its test is still in early development. On the advice of consultants, the company is weighing an alternative route through the FDA to the U.S. market.

“It’s just the way our government works,” Hendrix said, which is a challenge for businesses that are “anxious to get started and think they’ve got something that can help.”

The U.S. produced covid-19 vaccines in record time, but, nearly two years into the pandemic, consumers have few options for cheap tests that quickly screen for infection, though they are widely available in Europe. Experts say the paucity of tests and their high prices undermine efforts in the U.S. to return to normal life.

More at link:

[link:https://khn.org/news/article/at-home-covid-tests-scarce-costly-bureaucracy/|

[Tomconroy]

1. My understanding is that in the UK they have had them for quite

A while and they are given out for free.
The entire history of the failure to develop a test for Covid in the early days of the disease is a complete scandal.

[iwillalwayswonderwhy]

3. It's true

I have a 10-pack in the medicine cabinet. You just ask at the pharmacy. Yes, they are free.

[Tomconroy]

4. Could you mail me a few?

[róisín_dubh]

27. You can get 7 at a time from the NHS...

But that was in the summer. I haven’t been in need recently, though I’ve already ordered some to be at my flat when I arrive next week.

[muriel_volestrangler]

29. You can still pick them up at pharmacies for free, but you have to go online first

to register where they're being used. I suppose they wanted to keep better track of them (there is quite a glut of them, though - a teacher friend with 4 children was practically begging people to take packs off her hands).

[Timewas]

2. Not much

Not much of a surprise there, it has always been that way here...

[quakerboy]

5. You cant?

News to me. Everyone i know who has needed them has been able to get them. I just bought a set in preparation for an upcoming work event. I mean, they aren't free.. but not much more than a fancy cup of coffee

[phylny]

6. Where are you buying them?

[orleans]

7. i just looked on walgreens website

i'm given the option of picking it up or having it shipped

[quakerboy]

25. a few places

Amazon, but only rarely available.

Ihealth seems the cheapest, and you buy direct from them

Walgreens.

[Laurelin]

8. According to Google

The Walgreen test is $23.99.

I bought some three weeks ago in the Netherlands for 3€ and in Germany for less than 1€ each.

So it depends on what you consider cheap. My daughter uses them so I took some to her. $20.00 is not cheap for her.

[Tomconroy]

10. No family can afford that. And they are most useful if they are used a lot.

Just checked. 24 bucks at Walgreens. Looked like you get two. Ridiculous.

[phylny]

13. Yes, that was my point when I asked where quakerboy was buying them.

I've bought them at CVS and they were about the same price - that's a helluva cup of coffee!

If quakerboy found them for cheaper, I'd love to know where

[LeftInTX]

16. You're right. Not bad for one person. Expensive for family

We bought the two pack while on vacation last summer. But it was just the 2 of us. I followed up with an in-person free PCR test when I got home. However, I had to make an appointment and it was like the next day.

I had to make an appointment for my booster and it was available in 15 minutes! By the time I did the online intake, I had 5 minutes to get to the pharmacy.

I believe in-person rapid tests are free at pharmacies .But once again. I think appointments are needed.

[Dorian Gray]

15. I use the Binax Now

tests. I have a whole stack of them at home. We bought ten packs. But they're 24.99, so we spent 250$ on them. I test myself once a week, while my daughter and husband get tested at their schools once a week.

They are expensive enough to get people NOT to use them. I think it's important, so I've spent the money. But I also live in NYC in a neighborhood where people prioritize this, and I have the means to spend the money.

I also work with kids in underserved communities, and they DON'T have the means to spend on a test whenever they want to.

Luckily, we have a ton of mobile vans that test in NYC and they're free. But for PCR results it can take 24-48 hours.

All this to say, we needed cheap/free testing a YEAR ago, and that we STILL don't have it available to the majority of the american population is BS.

Schools should do testing to stay once exposed. But it's too expensive.

[LeftInTX]

18. You've got a good point

I'm a retired old fart.
Hubby is an educator though.

[Kammer]

20. $14

The Binax Now made by Abbott is $14 for a two pack at Walmart.

[Dorian Gray]

22. Ooh. That's good to know.

Thanks. No Walmart near me but I could order some.

[DFW]

9. They are available at most pharmacies now here in Germany

I just picked up a few yesterday. They cost €2.99 each.

[spinbaby]

11. They're sometimes unavailable

Locally, test kits seem to be selling at two for $25, but have spotty availability because cases are skyrocketing. You’d think someone would be rushing test kits to areas where covid is spiking, but no.

[mnhtnbb]

12. It's make a buck time in the US!

This is the fu*ked up side of capitalism in this country. Everything is seen as an opportunity to make money.

[sinkingfeeling]

19. Name one medicine or medical procedure that isn't 10 times

more expensive in the US than in Europe.

[janterry]

14. If that antiviral turns out to be as effective as early trials, this is KEY

you need to take it EARLY in infection, or it isn't going to work.

[StarryNite]

21. Exactly!

We need to be able to have affordable rapid test kits on hand at our homes.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. I paid $14.50 for a test yesterday

Last edited Sat Nov 27, 2021, 10:03 AM - Edit history (1)

I picked up a couple packs

[Dorian Gray]

23. That's a great price

Should be cheaper, but that’s better than what I’ve paid.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

24. I was at Krogers

They appeared to have plenty of tests and I did not see a limit on the number of tests you could buy

[LiberalFighter]

26. He thinks private business would do better in sorting thru apps than the govt?

Not likely if the private company follows the same protocols.

[brooklynite]

28. I had no problem placing an order yesterday...