JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Friday was the last day to secure a negative COVID test result before seeing family and friends on Christmas Day or even before Christmas Eve dinner.
However, with several testing sites closed, people were forced to look elsewhere for a COVID test.
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It wasn’t only a mad dash to the stores for last-minute Christmas shopping. Folks found themselves in a mad dash to get a COVID-19 test as well.
“I work at a public area, and one of my coworkers tested positive for COVID, so I’m just kind of being cautious because I’m going home for the holidays to Georgia to see my family, so I just want to be careful,” Shanelle Williams said.
Whether you were headed out of the country or to your family’s home, everyone had to come to the same place for a negative result.
“I’m headed to Scotland for the holidays,” Diane Olson said.
“I’m going on a cruise on the 26th, so I had to get tested to go on it,” Marinna Siciliano said.
With several COVID sites shut down this Christmas Eve, Avecina Medical was one of the few with open doors.
“This week, we are seeing more patients than we have seen compared to the peak of delta variant back in August,” Avecina Medical CEO and President Dr. Saman Soleymani said.
Even then, Avecina only took appointments, and most of those were full, which led some people to their local drugstores for a test.
“I’m a Shipt shopper, so I’m just going around to different stores shopping for our customers. A lot of CVS orders today and yesterday ordering COVID tests,” one shopper said.
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According to the FDA, studies show the BinaxNOW and QuickVue tests can detect the omicron variant, making them the popular choice at local drugstores.
We visited several stores around Jacksonville to see which were still in stock.
If you visit most CVS stores, you’re in luck. Over at Walgreens, we were met with several empty shelves.
As omicron proves to be more easily transmissible than delta, no one is taking a chance this Christmas.
“Some people have told me that they’re just taking precautions for Christmas. Some people are straight up sick, and they’re just double-checking and quarantining,” one shopper said.