PLEASANT HILLS, Pa. — On Monday, U.S. Federal Health officials stated that the omicron variant accounted for an estimated 73% of new infections last week. The same day, Penn State announced they detected the omicron variant as part of their ongoing COVID-19 surveillance and monitoring efforts.
“It was only a matter of time before it displaced delta,” said infectious disease doctor Amesh Adalja. “This is sort of simple biology, a more transmissible variant, one that can get around some of that immunity that our vaccines in our prior infections provides, was destined to become the major version of this virus.”
Pharmacist Kevin Evancic with Pleasant Hills Apothecary tells Channel 11 that in light of the omicron variant and the upcoming holidays, he can’t keep at-home rapid COVID test kits on the shelves.
“I had a customer who bought 20,” said Evancic. “I think people just want the reassurance that they aren’t positive, aren’t sick, can’t spread it, they are just trying to do the right thing.”
Most at-home tests give you results in 15 minutes or less. Evancic says test kits should be commonplace in medicine cabinets, just like Tylenol.
“Having one at home, in the event that you need one at some point in the future and aren’t scrambling at the last minute,” said Evancic.
Additionally, Adalja says moving forward, it’s important to find a more sustainable and accessible way for people to test themselves.
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“It’s going to be critical now for people to be able to test themselves so they can know whether they’re safe to be around others. This is part of the norm, of how we come up with a sustainable approach to life with a new virus that’s going to be unavoidable for most of us.”
While Adalja says most home tests can detect the omicron variant, there are some tests with a lower sensitivity that consumers may want to avoid, including home test kits made by Meridan, Applied DNA and Tide.
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