The Food and Drug Administration authorized Abbott's BinaxNOW (seen in photo) and Quidel's QuickVue COVID-19 tests to be sold without a prescription for consumers who want to test themselves repeatedly at home.
Ted S. Warren / AP Photo
Both CVS and Walgreens are lifting limits on how many rapid tests you can buy at once
The companies originally instituted the limits in December, as the omicron variant surged and demand for at-home tests skyrocketed.
By Rachel Treisman/NPR
Ted S. Warren / AP Photo
The Food and Drug Administration authorized Abbott's BinaxNOW (seen in photo) and Quidel's QuickVue COVID-19 tests to be sold without a prescription for consumers who want to test themselves repeatedly at home.
(Washington) — Both CVS and Walgreens are lifting their limits on the number of rapid COVID-19 tests customers can purchase at one time.
Representatives from both chains told NPR over email that they were able to change their policies after working with vendors to increase their inventory. They originally instituted the limits in December, as the omicron variant surged and demand for at-home tests skyrocketed.
“Due to the improved in-stock conditions of at-home COVID-19 testing products, we have removed the purchase limit and we’ve reinstated Same Day Delivery and Pickup solutions for customers,” wrote a spokesperson for Walgreens.
“We’ve worked with our vendors to increase inventory of OTC COVID-19 tests and have removed all product limits on those products at CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide and on CVS.com,” said a CVS spokesperson.
The news, which was first reported by The New York Times, comes as COVID-19 cases are dropping across the U.S. The country just crossed the threshold of 900,000 recorded COVID-19 deaths, though the rate of new cases is slowing.
The U.S. reported an average rate of nearly 300,000 new cases a day last week, compared with more than 800,000 three weeks ago, according to NPR’s case tracker.
Private insurers must cover the cost of eight rapid tests per month under a new policy that took effect in January. Here’s how reimbursement works. Plus, each household can order four free rapid tests from the federal government.
And the Biden administration announced last week that Medicare and Medicare Advantage recipients will be eligible for free, over-the-counter COVID-19 tests — also up to eight per month — beginning in early spring.
The CVS spokesperson said customers should contact their insurance provider to confirm their eligibility and clarify their specific claims submission process.
“Particularly, in the early stages of this program, we strongly encourage customers to save their receipt(s) as they may need to submit them to their insurer,” he added.
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