METAIRIE (WGNO)— The demand is high for at-home COVID-19 tests, but the supply is low. What are local pharmacies seeing? When are more tests supposed to arrive? WGNO’s Kenny Lopez takes a look.
NOLA Discount Pharmacy is the third place that Beatrice Calvert is looking for an at-home rapid COVID-19 test.
“It is really hard to get one. I’m hoping because they are a mom and pop shop that maybe they will have more access,” Calvert said.
Beatrice is fully vaccinated and boosted, and luckily not feeling any symptoms but she still wants a test for her own peace of mind.
“Some people from work are sick with it, so I thought I better find some tests,” she said.
Unfortunately, NOLA Discount Pharmacy is out of stock too because of low stock supply and shipment delays from their distributors.
“They do limit how much we can get per day. Sometimes it is 60, sometimes 70, or 100 just depends on their supply and how much they can allocate to each and everyone one of us,” Khanh Tran, Pharmacist at NOLA Discount Pharmacy said.
Tran said that ideally they’d get 1,000 tests per day. No matter what he knows they will sell out.
“It is hard to let people know we are out. Almost immediately when we open at 9 am, within an hour they are usually gone,” he said.
He went on to say the best thing to do is call first. They are expecting more tests later this week.
“Just give us a call that way you don’t waste your time or your gas,” Tran said.
As for Beatrice, she won’t give up.
“I’m just going to keep going out everyday I am going to go to mom and pop places to see if I can find a test or two,” Calvert said.
NOLA Discount Pharmacy also administers rapid COVID-19 tests in the store for $60, but make sure you call first to make sure they will be doing testing that specific day.
For more information on NOLA Discount Pharmacy, click HERE.
