Posted on Sep 14, 2021
An Epidemiologist Says At-Home Testing Is Key To Stopping COVID
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https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/09/14/ [login to see] /an-epidemiologist-says-at-home-testing-is-key-to-stopping-covid
The COVID-19 response plan that President Biden unveiled last week aims to dramatically increase the accessibility of rapid tests for the coronavirus.
The Biden administration announced it was spending $2 billion on 280 million quick-turnaround tests to be distributed to community health centers, food banks, testing sites, shelters, prisons and other congregate settings. It's also leaning on Walmart, Amazon and Kroger to sell rapid tests at wholesale cost for the next three months.
Such quick-turnaround tests can be taken at home or at a point of care and deliver results often in under an hour — as opposed to the more sensitive but more time-consuming PCR tests, which require laboratory processing.
Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiology professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been an outspoken proponent for wide availability of rapid tests, even with the arrival of effective vaccines.
"Should anything go wrong with the vaccines, we need backup plans," he told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly in April, before the highly contagious delta variant drove the current wave of infections. "If new variants come around that get around people's immune systems, especially in elderly whose immune systems a year after they get vaccinated might be waning in terms of their level of protection, we want to be able to limit spread as much as possible."
The COVID-19 response plan that President Biden unveiled last week aims to dramatically increase the accessibility of rapid tests for the coronavirus.
The Biden administration announced it was spending $2 billion on 280 million quick-turnaround tests to be distributed to community health centers, food banks, testing sites, shelters, prisons and other congregate settings. It's also leaning on Walmart, Amazon and Kroger to sell rapid tests at wholesale cost for the next three months.
Such quick-turnaround tests can be taken at home or at a point of care and deliver results often in under an hour — as opposed to the more sensitive but more time-consuming PCR tests, which require laboratory processing.
Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiology professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has been an outspoken proponent for wide availability of rapid tests, even with the arrival of effective vaccines.
"Should anything go wrong with the vaccines, we need backup plans," he told NPR's Mary Louise Kelly in April, before the highly contagious delta variant drove the current wave of infections. "If new variants come around that get around people's immune systems, especially in elderly whose immune systems a year after they get vaccinated might be waning in terms of their level of protection, we want to be able to limit spread as much as possible."
An Epidemiologist Says At-Home Testing Is Key To Stopping COVID
Posted from npr.org
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Health
Posted 3 y ago
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They can tell me they are accurate, but I have seen that to be true, to date. Arguably, my experience with them is limited to the area I practice in, but they have not been reliable in my area, to the point that many clinics don't recommend them.
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Maj Robert Thornton
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel I guarantee part of the problem is that folks are not likely to get the swab as far back as it needs to be in both nosttils.
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