Washington DOH runs out of at-home COVID tests

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Less than 24 hours after launching their at-home COVID test ordering portal, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) ran out of stock.

The program launched state-wide on Friday, January 22nd. Initially, the “Say Yes! COVID Home Test” program was only available to Eastern Washington residents.

After the pilot program successfully delivered 800, 000 tests to parts of Eastern Washington, the Washington DOH decided to expand the program statewide.

“We anticipate people’s initial need in the test kits will exceed our current supply pretty quickly, but our focus is sharing what we have right now,” said Lacy Fehrenbach, Deputy Secretary for the COVID-19 response with Washington DOH.

Then, on Friday afternoon, Washington DOH posted on social media, saying that their supply of COVID tests had run out.

Thank you for trying to access a COVID-19 testing kit today! Due to high demand, our inventory is currently out of stock. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you were not able to place an order, we expect more test will be available soon. pic.twitter.com/blCNSUxp4y

— WA Dept. of Health (@WADeptHealth) January 22, 2022

If you need an at-home COVID test, you still have options:

• Order a free testing kit from the Federal program at CovidTests.gov
• Purchase an at-home test at local retailers and pharmacies.
• If you have health insurance, most insurers will now directly cover or pay you back for up to 8 at-⁠home tests per month, for each person on your plan.
• Find a test at a testing location near you

While taking at-home tests, if you receive a positive test result, make sure to report it through the state’s COVID-19 hotline, who can guide you on next steps based on your zip code. The state hotline can be reached at 1-800-525-0127, and is open Monday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Tuesday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

UPDATE on 1/24/22: The Department of Health offered the following statement and resources in response to the limited testing supplies:

Say Yes! COVID Test went live Friday with the inventory the state had received so far, which was roughly 650,000 at-home test kits. DOH did anticipate that the need for test kits would exceed the state’s supply fairly quickly, but our focus is on sharing what supplies we have available right now. While I don’t have a specific date to share at this time, I can tell you that we expect more test kits to be available soon. Please watch our DOH social media channels for updates.

In the meantime, we want to remind people that there are other ways to access a COVID-19 test kit:

• Order a free testing kit from the Federal program at CovidTests.gov
• Purchase an at-home test at local retailers and pharmacies.
• If you have health insurance, most insurers will now pay you back for up to 8 at-⁠home tests per month, for each person on your plan. More info here.
• Get a test at a testing location near you: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/COVID19/TestingforCOVID19/TestingLocations

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