BOSTON — Zigzagging lines of cars spent their Christmas Eve Eve trying to get a free COVID rapid test as the city of Lynn gave out thousands of tests to its residents who want to ensure a negative result before seeing family.
Rachel Henderson does not live in Lynn but was driving around Norwood and Dedham trying to find something.
“I was talking to a friend this morning and she said she had gone to six places couldn’t find any so I just tried Walgreens in Needham,” said Henderson of Needham. “The people in front of me just got the last two.”
Lucky for her, she found a CVS in Dedham that just got a new shipment a few hours earlier allowing her to get the limit of 6 tests. However, the CVS down the street said they are all out and waiting for their next shipment.
Even police departments like Gardner had to tell people on social media not to come by because they ran out of testing kits.
A similar sentiment at the Boston public health Commission who within just 3 days distributed 180,000 tests it received from the state
· 58,000 went to schools
· 79,000 to Libraries
· 23,000 to Boston Centers for Youth and Families
· And the rest split over 100 other agencies
“The demand for kits right now in our city is so enormous that at this point we pretty much exhausted our supply,” said Executive director Boston Public Health Commission Bisola Ojikutu. “And that’s unfortunate because we want people to test themselves before they interact with family members.”
With time running out before Christmas so are the options to find tests.
“The whole family is vaccinated,” said Henderson. “I just got my booster, actually I just got it yesterday, but I feel like you can never be too safe. I just wanted to test the night before we got on the plane just to be sure not only for my family but for the people on the plane.”
BPHC says some limited kits are still available at some of the Boston Public Libraries but just call the branch before wasting a trip.