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At-home COVID-19 tests are 'flying off the shelves' while pharmacies, hospitals can't keep up

The Omicron variant is playing a role, as people worry about its high transmissibility and want to get tested quickly.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — People coming back from the holiday want that quick and easy option for testing and rapid, at-home tests are a great choice —  if you can get your hands on one. It's now harder than ever to find them. 

Retailers can't keep them in stock and even some locally-owned pharmacies are feeling the shortage, too.

The Omicron variant is playing a role, as people worry about its high transmissibility and want to get tested quickly.

But retailers like CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart have limited the number of home tests that can be purchased online, and in some areas, pharmacies are jacking up prices. For local pharmacies like Kay Pharmacy in Grand Rapids, they don't even have any tests to sell. 

"We've never seen something like this going into the holidays," said Mike Koelzer, President of Kay Pharmacy. "The tests have been really hard to get, and when you get them they kind of fly off the shelf."

Spectrum Health is even noticing the high demand for testing and are trying to keep up with their seven testing platforms, but say it has been hard.

"Our constraint right now is in our staff and our ability to to scale up," said Brian Brasser, Chief Operating Officer for Spectrum Health, "and we know that the demand is likely going to accelerate as the as the new variant takes hold."

Over the course of the pandemic, Spectrum Health reports having resulted over 1.1 million COVID-19 tests. 

"The reality is that it's  going to be tough in a lot of different cases," Brasser added. "Our teams are working very hard to make sure that we have as much capacity as we can, but we're really focusing on patients who are exhibiting symptoms."

On Dec. 21, President Joe Biden announced the federal government would make 500 million at-home rapid tests available to Americans who request them, but that isn't expected to start until January. It is also unclear how that process will work.

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