As part of its comprehensive effort to increase access to COVID-19 testing in order to help slow the spread of the virus, CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) today announced that children age 12 years and older are eligible for testing at the more than 2,000 test sites located at select CVS Pharmacy drive-thru testing locations, starting Friday, September 11. In addition, more than 120 new test sites will open Friday at CVS Pharmacy drive-thru locations across the country.
“With schools opening across the country, there’s an urgent need to make testing for minors more readily available,” said Troyen Brennan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CVS Health. “In response, we’ve implemented a system that allows parents or guardians to register and accompany their children for a self-swab test close to home.”
In recent weeks, CVS Health has expanded its network of independent third-party lab partners in an effort to help improve turnaround time for the delivery of test results. As a result, the majority of test results from specimens collected at CVS test sites across the country will generally be available within 2 – 3 days.
Self-swab tests are no cost to patients and will be available to individuals meeting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria.1 Patients must register in advance at CVS.com to schedule an appointment. Minors ages 12 and older are now eligible for COVID-19 testing at CVS Pharmacy drive-thru sites. A parent or legal guardian must complete the on-line registration for all minor patients, and patients 12 – 15 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian when they come to be tested. Parents or guardians seeking testing for children under the age of 12 should consult with a pediatrician to identify appropriate testing options.
When arriving for testing, patients are asked to follow signage or the instructions of the staff onsite. Procedures vary by location and patients may be directed to stay in their cars and proceed to either the pharmacy drive-thru window or a parking space or tent located in the parking lot or, in very limited locations, to enter a CVS store. Patients will be provided with a test kit and given instructions, and a CVS Pharmacy team member will observe the self-swab process.
To date, CVS Health has administered more than three million COVID-19 tests since launching its first test site in the parking lot of a CVS Pharmacy location in Shrewsbury, Mass. in March.
More information on steps CVS Health has taken to address the COVID-19 pandemic is available at the company's frequently updated COVID-19 resource center.
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