CVS Health, on March 16, announced the availability of COVID-19 antibody testing in all MinuteClinic locations in Massachusetts, there are nearly 60 MinuteClinic locations in the state. The point-of-care test assesses for previous exposure to COVID-19 and results are available within 15 minutes.
“CVS Health and MinuteClinic have played an important role in providing Americans with access to COVID-19 testing since the start of the pandemic,” said Sharon Vitti, president of MinuteClinic. “We know there is growing interest in affordable COVID-19 antibody testing and believe that MinuteClinic can help patients access this service given our convenient locations, extended evening and weekend hours and our commitment to high quality, evidence-based clinical care.”
Vaccination Campaign
The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway. About 392 million doses have been administered across 128 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 9.50 million doses a day. In the U.S., more Americans have received at least one dose than have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. So far, 111 million doses have been given. In the last week, an average of 2.44 million doses per day were administered.
While the best vaccines are thought to be 95% effective, it may still be possible to spread the disease after getting inoculated. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious-disease official in the U.S., has said that vaccinating 70% to 85% of the U.S. population would enable a return to normalcy. On a global scale, that’s a daunting level of vaccination. At the current pace of 9.50 million a day, it would take years to achieve a significant level of global immunity. The rate, however, is steadily increasing, and new vaccines by additional manufacturers are coming to market.
“In the U.S., the latest vaccination rate is 2,435,037 doses per day, on average. At this rate, it will take an additional an estimated 5 months to cover 75% of the population with a two-dose vaccine,” – the Bloomberg report.
MinuteClinic COVID-19 Antibody Test
MinuteClinic is the retail medical clinic of CVS Health, with approximately 1,100 locations inside select CVS Pharmacy stores in 33 states and Washington, D.C.
COVID-19 antibody test results are available within 15 minutes. During the visit, the MinuteClinic provider will perform the antibody test, which includes the collection of a finger stick blood sample, and will review the results with the patient. The COVID-19 antibody test is intended to assess for prior exposure to the virus and antibodies can develop in as few as 14 days after infection. This test is not intended to diagnose a current infection.
COVID-19 antibody testing costs $38 and payment is due at the time of service. COVID-19 antibody testing at MinuteClinic is an extension of CVS Health’s overall commitment to providing access to COVID-19 testing and the company is evaluating further expansion of this service in the coming weeks. CVS Health currently offers COVID-19 testing at more than 4,800 CVS Pharmacy locations, nearly 1,000 of which provide rapid-result testing. To date, the company has administered more than 15 million COVID-19 tests.
