CVS Announces the Availability of Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests

CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) said on Monday that its stores have begun carrying three over-the-counter COVID-19 tests.

The products — the Ellume COVID-19 Home Test, Abbott Laboratories‘ BinaxNOW Antigen Self Test, and the Pixel by Labcorp PCR Test Home Collection Kit — are now available in a number of CVS locations. They can also be purchased through the company’s e-commerce portal.

The Pixel by Labcorp PCR Test Home Collection Kit .

IMAGE SOURCE: LABCORP.

They range in price from $23.99 for the Abbott test, to $119 for the Pixel by Labcorp product. None of the three require a doctor’s prescription, and they can be used by individuals who do or do not show symptoms of the disease.

“CVS Health has been a leader in providing accessible testing in communities nationwide, and we continue to bring new solutions to market to ensure that consumers have a variety of COVID-19 testing options available to them,” said George Coleman, senior vice president and chief merchant of the CVS Pharmacy unit.

While the availability of the tests likely won’t move the needle much on the massive CVS’ financials, it is certainly a positive development in the continuing fight against the spread of COVID-19. Public testing is widely available, but it can sometimes be difficult for people to get to testing sites, or to carve out the time necessary.

Perhaps because of the encouraging news, CVS stock did marginally better than the S&P 500 index on Monday. The former dipped by almost 0.2%, while the latter sank by over 0.5%.