Local Pharmacies Struggle To Keep At-Home COVID-19 Test Kits In Stock

With new COVID-19 case numbers at the highest they have ever been in Oklahoma, pharmacists say they can’t keep at-home testing kits in stock. Pharmacists say they are having a hard time finding tests to order and can’t keep them on the shelves if they do get a shipment in. They say they don’t expect this short supply to end until the surge in cases starts to die down.

The Oklahoma State Department of Health reports the seven-day average number of new daily cases at more than 10,000 cases per day. That is the highest average since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Owasso Medicap pharmacist Kathy Campbell says the cases have been up since Christmas and that is when their supply of at-home COVID tests started to diminish. She tells said their in-pharmacy tests have been put on hold too due to lack of supply.

“It’s spreading like wildfire,” Campbell said. “That is also driving the need for testing because more and more people have it but don’t feel bad and they want to know so they don’t spread it to their loved ones.”

Many other options such as Walgreens, Walmart and CVS have been out of the at-home testing kits for weeks as well.

Campbell said they are trying their best to get tests in but they are impossible to find.

“We’ve been challenged with just finding them, buying them, and the prices at a wholesale level just are really not very responsible for us, they keep going up,” Campbell said.

President Biden’s initiative to send all Americans at-home COVID test kits went live last week and they are expected to start shipping those out this week according to the website. If you would like to order your set of four tests per household, you can do so by Clicking Here.