CLEVELAND — Imagine testing yourself for coronavirus at home.
A race is on to make that possible, with Judy Stewart believing that she has the solution. Her company Vaccines 2 Go can now mail you a COVID-19 test kit and have results to you within a day.
Laboratories including Georgia’s “Life Hope” could do the testing from a person’s swab.
“They put the kit back here on ice and it’s overnighted back to us,” said Tim Allen, Life Hope.
“MDs actually call with positive or negative results,” Judy Stewart added.
It could be a godsend to patients told to stay out of hospitals and not infect others, as well as health care workers panicking over a shortage of personal protection equipment. Dr. Jerome Adams, the U.S. Surgeon General, told SiriusXM Doctor Radio and NYU Langone Health Wednesday that he is hopeful there could soon be an at-home test.
“I’ll be honest. I believe that the self-administered test could be a game-changer,” he said, “Because it uses less PPE.”
He is not alone.
“If we get to a point where it’s a simpler test that individuals can perform on their own, I think that’s great,” said Dr. Anand Parekh, Bipartisan Policy Center. “But there are a lot of elements here when it comes to testing.”
The FDA states on its website it has not authorized any test for purchase for testing yourself at home for COVID-19. While “Life Hope” and “Vaccines 2 Go” say they are now ready to ship thousands of kits, they will not do so without the government’s support.
The White House has pushed companies to be innovative and President Trump said he would be willing to fast-track solutions. The FDA says it is working with companies to find them.