At-Home Covid-19 Test Kits Are The Hottest Product On The Internet — And There’s A Frenzy Of Shoppers To Help People Buy Them

Topline

Demand for at-home Covid-19 test kits has skyrocketed over the past few weeks as omicron cases continue to surge nationwide, reportedly forcing some people to turn to stock-monitoring websites and other venues to get a hold of the increasingly hard to find tests.

Key Facts

Many of the popular at-home Covid-19 tests, like BinaxNow and Ellume, appear to be sold out online at retailers like Walmart and CVS, while brick-and-mortar pharmacies and stores in places seeing Covid-19 spikes like New York City are also reportedly struggling to stay in stock.

Websites like NowInStock, HotStock and ZooLert, which track item restocks at different online retailers, have listed at-home test kits under their most popular items.

Social media accounts “SupplyNinja” and “Wario64” – which help people search for restocks of hard to find electronic items like the Playstation 5 – are now sending out updates and alerts on where people can find the latest restocks of at-home Covid-19 tests, according to Bloomberg and CBS News. 

Google searches for the term “home covid test kit” surged to an all time high in the U.S. between December 26 – January 1, according to Google data, and other rising searches included “Walgreens at home covid test kit” and “Walmart at home covid test kit.”

Key Background

Coronavirus cases across the nation began to surge in early December, with multiple states including Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Illinois, reporting their highest Covid-19 case counts since the start of the pandemic. In mid-December, major retailers like Amazon, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart began limiting sales of their at-home test kits due to high demand and inventory constraints, as more people sought to get tested prior to and during the holidays. To further increase testing capacity in the U.S., President Joe Biden announced he would provide 500 million free at-home Covid-19 tests to Americans in January. Covid-19 cases continued to spike, reaching 1 million new cases in the U.S. on Monday. 

What To Watch For

If the Biden Administration’s free at-home Covid-19 tests promised to Americans in January will ease testing kit demand. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden Administration was in the process of finalizing contracts for the free at-home test kits, and Americans would be able to acquire some on a new website that would go live later in January. 

Tangent

Retailers like Walmart and Kroger have raised prices this year for some of their at-home test kits including BinaxNow, as a deal with the White House to sell the test kits for a lower fixed price expired. Walmart reportedly raised prices for the BinaxNow test kits from $14 to $19.88 and Kroger raised prices to $23.99. 

Further Reading

Amazon, Walmart And Other Major Retailers Are Limiting Sales Of At-Home Covid Test Kits Amid High Demand (Forbes)

Find Covid-19 Home Tests Using Online Product Trackers (Wall Street Journal)

Rapid COVID tests are reselling for triple the retail price (Los Angeles Times)