With the holidays coming (blah…) many people - including my own family - may be asking the group to get tested before getting together. I’ve done CVS for a test before traveling but thought about getting some rapid tests to do at home.
Who has suggestions for test kits you have purchased on your own? Amazon, drug stores or otherwise??
Other question: do people use local drugstores for “casual testing”? So not for traveling but before getting together with a group or whatever? I mean if people get tested often are insurance or drug stores going to limit free testing??
We have bought the BinaxNOW kits in the past. Easy to use, not entirely sure how I would rate their accuracy. They seem more likely to give a false positive but I have also heard of false negatives, too (probably not really “false”, just not in the right time window). They were pretty easy to get at CVS, Rite Aid and Walmart but I think they may not be as readily available.
I purchased a few of the BinaxNow Rapid Tests from Walgreens for home use. They’re easy to use and deliver results in about 15 minutes. You can order them online if they are out of stock locally. Walgreens in my area is also offering free drive-thru testing at select locations. Check with your state health department too. I was able to get four more test kits for free from ours.
Our libraries have test kits - when they are not out. I guess I feel guilty to get those when I don’t think I have COVID but am just getting “clearance” for a function and it’s not a requirement (like travel across a border)
My brother has bought a bunch of BianaxNow kits his wife is a teacher and both he at the bank and wife have been working in office all the time on site. Sam’s was selling the Bianax for $14 for 2 kits and delivering it to his house (locally out if stock).
They had a special promo and offered free 8 pack of tests mailed to households. I got a pack —4 boxes of QuickVue with 2 tests per box. I’m giving them to my kids because I feel they’re more exposed than us with travel and going out more.
I found the quickvue easier to use than the binaxnow. I was exposed the week of Oct 26th, found out on the nov 1st, and every day last week I took a rapid test at home. (all negative). I found tests in Walmart, CVS , Walgreens, etc.
yeah, i was a victim of this in Aug, before travel which caused me a panic and a trip to my PCP for a PCR test to show I was negative. I got a replacement from them . The replacement correctly was negative.
We have the BianaxNow kits and are “asking” (requiring) anyone coming to TG to be vaxxed and take a test morning of. Not perfect, but hopefully will be enough. Also requesting care and as much avoidance as possible in weeks coming up to it.
Our nearby Sam’s Club had BianaxNow 2-pack tests in stock today @$14, no limit on purchases. The expiration date was 4/22 so I just bought 2, for a total of 4 tests.
We have 4 boxes of 2-pack tests (different brand) that expire in 2023, so we will likely suggest that these BianaxNow be used first. Maybe our kids will use these Bianax tests in conjunction with flying to see us.
We have BinaxNow tests stashed for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Got most of them at Walmart because they made a deal with the US government to sell them for $14/2pack while Walgreens is still selling them for $23/2pack. They actually seem to be more available than they were a few months ago.
We are going to try quick testing the morning of and everyone vaxxed (except 2 toddlers). Also running air purifiers and cracking windows. Some coming think it’s overkill. Others are still worried. It is what it is.
I just bought 4x 2 so 8 tests, just to have around in case we feel like we should test. We have a couple who both work in schools, and we have plans with older relatives, so it’s a small price to pay to help others keep safe.