JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – During an address focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, President Joe Biden said he wants more Americans to have access to affordable at-home testing amid the fight against the surge of the delta variant.
“I’ll use the Defense Production Act to increase production of rapid tests, including those that you can use at home,” Biden said. “While that production is ramping up, my administration has worked with top retailers like Walmart, Amazon and Kroger … we’re announcing that no later than next week, each of these outlets will start to sell at-home rapid test kits at-cost for the next three months.”
Those price cuts had already gone into place Friday at Walmart and Amazon.
News4Jax found the BinaxNow antigen test on Walmart’s website, originally sold for $23.97, was on Friday listed at $14.
However, the tests were out of stock online and not available for pick up.
We found another at home test, the Inteliswab, with a price cut as well. Originally $24.99, but listed for $14.
However, it also was out of stock.
The only tests we found available to buy on Friday was on Amazon.
It’s an FDA authorized PCR test collection kit that promises results in 24 hours from a lab, listed for $36.99.
The description indicated this is the at-cost price, saying this test is “currently priced to increase access to affordable, high-quality COVID-19 tests.”
However, if you can’t get your hands on one of these at-home tests right now, Biden says he will also increase access.
“We’ll also expand — expand free testing at 10,000 pharmacies around the country. And we’ll commit — we’re committing $2 billion to purchase nearly 300 million rapid tests for distribution to community health centers, food banks, schools, so that every American, no matter their income, can access free and convenient tests.”
Outlined details of that plan and who is getting those tests have not yet been released.