Some Vermont pharmacies running short on at-home COVID tests

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – With COVID hospitalizations ticking upward, some pharmacies are running short of at-home tests.

Burlington’s Lakeside Pharmacy is seeing tests flying off the shelves compared to a few weeks ago.

“We’ve been noticing a sharp increase in the number of tests that people have been coming in to buy and people have been, you know, trying to get prescriptions through their insurance for just because it definitely does seem like we’re in the midst of some level of a surge of cases,” Pharmacist Ryan Quinn said.

Elsewhere in the city, there has been trouble finding tests. This week, no tests were available at pharmacies in the city like Walgreens and CVS.

Vermont Health Department Epidemiologist John Davy says they’ve heard anecdotal information that tests are harder to come by.

“We have heard about, you know, lower supply on the commercial market… possibly due to reduced demand that we’ve seen in the past few months. So suppliers on the open market aren’t necessarily supplying it,” Davy said.

It’s not just at-home COVID tests that are in higher demand at the pharmacy.

“Also we’ve been seeing increases in the number of Paxlovid prescriptions that have been coming through because people are getting sick,” Quinn said.

The Health Department suggests if you can’t find a test at your local store to reach out to your municipality or head to the Health Department website. They are distributing tests to municipalities who often have them at their local library.

Also, the state has a reserve for any unforeseen circumstances.

“I think, you know, I think for what we’re anticipating going into the following winter, which is we’re hoping it’ll be later when I count you know, we’re not counting our chickens. But, you know, I think we feel prepared heading into this next season,” Davy said.

Davy says that if you can’t find a test and think you might have COVID, do your best to stay home or wear a mask if you’re going to be around other people.

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