(WHDH) — Gov. Charlie Baker has urged Bay Staters to acquire COVID-19 self-test kits so people can test themselves before attending holiday parties but area residents are reporting difficulties finding them in and around the Boston area.
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With long lines and wait times at drive-thru testing centers in communities across the state, Baker recommended turning to at-home test kits as a way of staying safe during Christmas.
“Testing capacity is a critical piece of our strategy to keep people safe,” Baker said during a news conference at the State House.
A check of websites for CVS, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart showed that rapid antigen test kits were not currently available.
“As soon as you tell everybody they should have the home kit, they all run out and buy it,” said one CVS shopper who has had no luck finding a test kit.
Last week, Massachusetts started distributing more than two million free COVID-19 tests to more than 100 cities and towns in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.
With the omicron variant on the march, President Biden on Tuesday announced 500 million free rapid tests for Americans.
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