Major U.S. pharmacy chains are experiencing high volumes of sales of COVID-19 rapid test kits in the wake of rising case counts and hospitalizations, leading some to worry about possible product shortages.
“We are seeing greater demand in this category nationwide, which may cause temporary and isolated shortages,” a spokesperson for Walgreens told the Washington Examiner. The representative also said in-pharmacy PCR testing for COVID-19 increased 104% from July 15 to Aug. 15.
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A spokesperson for CVS Pharmacy told the Washington Examiner that their stores have “recently seen a slight uptick in requests for point-of-care COVID-19 testing at our pharmacies and clinics, and in purchases of at-home COVID-19 test kits. We have ample supply to meet our customers’ and patients’ testing needs both in-store, in-clinic and at CVS.com.”
Rite Aid also confirmed for the Washington Examiner that their sales of COVID test kits have increased by 34% in the past week.
Various makers of at-home COVID-19 rapid test kits, including Abbott and Siemens, did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
While hospitalization rates across the country continue to increase steadily and public health officials are contemplating controversial mask mandates again, some experts suggest that the United States is better prepared to handle the situation than at the height of the pandemic.
Mandy Cohen, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that approximately 10,000 patients are currently being hospitalized per week, which is 30,000 lower than in August 2022.
“We’re in a much different and better place in August of 2023 [than last year],” Cohen said. “We have stronger immunity and tools to protect ourselves [like] vaccines, at-home tests, effective treatments, and common sense strategies like washing your hands and staying away from people when you’re sick.”
Cohen, who started at the CDC in July, also said the agency is monitoring the highly mutated BA 8.26 variant of COVID-19 that is newly circulating in the U.S., as well as the EG.5 variant, nicknamed Eris after the Greek goddess of chaos and destruction.
“We are more prepared than ever to detect and respond to those changes [in new variants]. The CDC is closely tracking a new variant, which does have a number of changes or mutations that do make it distinct or different from the older versions of the virus,” Cohen said. “So we’re working as fast as we can to understand this new variant and what impact it might have on how severe the COVID disease will get or how well our vaccines will work against it.”
President Joe Biden tentatively suggested Friday that people should plan to receive another COVID-19 booster shot in response to both BA 8.26 and EG.5 and plans to propose to Congress a request for additional funding for “a new vaccine.”
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The Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing the vaccines recommended by the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee in June. The new vaccines, which will be available in September, are anticipated to prevent the most severe disease from the currently circulating strains, an FDA spokesperson previously told the Washington Examiner.
Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, and Rite Aid told the Washington Examiner that COVID-19 vaccinations are seeing an uptick, even before the newest vaccines are available, and that their stores are preparing to offer the newest vaccine when it is available next month.
