Home Covid Tests That Don’t Require A Doctor’s Visit

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : January 4, 2022

The new Omicron Variant has created yet another havoc since its discovery. Although the new strain is not very severe, it is highly transmissible. The world is at ease since there have not been many hospitalizations, but with the holiday season around the corner, the cases have seen a huge surge in western countries.

Home Covid Tests That Don’t Require A Doctor’s Visit

On Wednesday, the US reported a new rise in cases with over 490,000 cases being recorded. The health officials suspect that this number is highly underreported due to the growing popularity of home tests and asymptomatic patients.

Home Covid Tests That Don't Require A Doctor's Visit

The US Health Officials have begun encouraging citizens to resort to home Covid-19 tests before stepping out for the holiday season. Thus, the demand for these tests has soared, which has resulted in a shortage of supply.

This has led the Pentagon to announce a $137 million contract with a Massachusetts-based subsidiary of Merck- MilliporeSigma to produce nitrocellulose membranes, the key paper that displays the results of the home tests. This would set up the production of more than 84 million home-based tests in a month.  

The US Government has announced that these Covid-19 tests would be Free of cost from early next year. Also, the citizens would be reimbursed for home antigen tests costing more than $25 by the health insurance companies. 

Although the health officials have declared that these tests are less effective in detecting the virus, it is advisable for symptomatic patients who had tested negative with rapid antigen tests to follow up with a PCR test. The risks of false-positive results from these tests are ideally low; it is further advisable to have a PCR test if you have tested positive through a home-based test.

As the supply of these home kits is running into shortage, one can contact the local health department about its availability. The costs of these kits vary between different brands. A rapid antigen test generally costs about $10-$15 a kit whereas home collection tests, wherein the samples are sent to a lab, costs around $120-$130. 

These antigen tests produce results in minutes while some require coordination with lab technicians to produce results within the next 5 days. Below are 10 At home Covid-19 tests that can be used without visiting a doctor- 

  1. On/Go
  • Available at: Amazon, Walmart
  • Result time: Within 10 mins.
  • How to use?: Nasal Swab
  1. Ellume
  • Available at: Convenience Store, Target       
  • Result time: Within 15 mins.
  • How to use?: Nasal Swab
  1. FlowFlex
  • Available at: Convenience Store, Target, Flowflex website  
  • Result time: Within 15 mins.
  • How to use?: Nasal Swab
  1. EverlyWell
  • Available at: Everlywell.com
  • Result time: The lab receives the sample and the results come back after 1-2 days
  • How to use?: Lower Nasal Swab
  1. LetsGetChecked
  • Available at: LetsGetChecked.com
  • Result time: The lab receives the sample and the results come back after 3 days
  • How to use?: Lower Nasal Swab
  1. Quickvue
  • Available at: Convenience Store, Amazon
  • Result time: Within 10 mins.
  • How to use?: Nasab Swab
  1. Phosphorus
  • Available at: Phosphorus.com           
  • Result time: The lab receives the sample and the results come back after 1-3 days
  • How to use?: Saliva sample
  1. Pixel by Labcorp
  • Available at: Pixel.Labcorp.com
  • Result time: The lab receives the sample and the results come back after 1-2 days
  • How to use?: Nasal Swab
  1. DxTerity
  • Available at: Amazon 
  • Result time: The lab receives the sample and the results come back after 2-3 days
  • How to use?: Saliva sample
  1. Vault
  • Available at: Vaulthealth.com           
  • Result time: The lab receives the sample and the results come back after 2 days
  • How to use?: Saliva sample

Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

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