The White House is now adding $1bn to purchase millions of test kits for rapid at-home tests for Covid. The White House COVID-19 responses coordinator Jefferey Zients said that on Wednesday,
The money is following a $2 billion investment in September to apply the raid test to community healthcare, schools, food banks.
They will come in the form of over-the-counter swab tests. People can purchase these at the pharmacy and take them home. They test for antigens or proteins available on the surface of the virus. It can offer a very reliable result in 15 minutes, especially for symptomatic people.
There are reports of a shortage of these test kits around the country. Zient from the White House said that the action is now putting the country in a position to quadruple the number of rapid tests. They will have the available supply of 200 test kits per month from December.
On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration’s authorized Flowflex test kit. It significantly increases the availability of such at-home testing. It is the eighth test of this kind that will become available in the US. It will be much more affordable. It will take $10 for each test.
The government is anticipating the large purchase of the tests. The instances of the product will drive down the price of testing.
In a briefing on Wednesday, Zients has emphasized that there are many free testing options throughout the community health centers and in other testing sites. The insurance also covers these testing options. The administration had arranged 20000 more pharmacies to offer tests for Covid. There are existing 10000 free test sites across the nation.
At-home rapid testing is making things easier for people to spot-check themselves for corona infections. But it is harder for the authorities to keep track of the viral spread. Mina says there should be a clear strategy to monitor all these results.
FDA has announced that Ellume has recalled 200000 at-home test kits as they had a higher-than-expected rate for false-positive tests.