NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Health Department gave out nearly 6,000 at-home rapid COVID tests Wednesday. They ran out of the tests about an hour into what was supposed to be a two-day giveaway at city fire stations and quickly opened up additional locations to try to meet the high demand.
"A friend texted me 10 minutes ago and said 'they're giving out free COVID tests' and I went to a Christmas party, I want to make sure the next group of people I see are safe," said Courtney Bullock who was early to the fire station on Magazine Street and able to snag a kit.
Supply at four fire stations could not keep up with the enormous demand. The giveaway began at 8 a.m. and was scheduled to be a two-day event, but all four sites ran out of the free tests by 9:15 a.m. Between the four fire stations, 1,728 kits were given away.
"I thought I'd make it in time, but it appears there was a really high demand," Celia Mayne said after walking up to a sign at the fire station on Decatur that read, 'Sorry, We are out of COVID tests.'
"We were a little disappointed they were out of tests already, but I understand Omicron has gotten really aggressive so a lot of people are looking to get tests," Scott Stafford said.
The demand for at-home testing kits is felt at pharmacies too.
"I tried to buy some several days ago and I went to several places and they are sold out everywhere," Caylie Sadin said.
Majoria Drugs sold 360 kits in three hours Wednesday morning. The kits there sell for $21.99 and were going quickly. By mid-morning, they had about 20 left.
"I don’t know if we're going to get anymore in. We were lucky to get a couple of cases in, we put them out, and they're gone," Majoria Drugs Pharmacist Al Spitale said.
By noon, the New Orleans Health Department opened up more home test giveaway locations at 14 libraries across the city.
"We've both possibly been exposed to people in the past couple of days who have COVID and the at-home tests are impossible to find in the stores right now," Elizabeth Stancioff said after picking up tests from the Mid-City library.
All of the libraries were out by 3 p.m., giving away about 4,200 kits in a matter of hours.
"I think everyone is nervous. People are going to see their families and they don’t want to infect anyone or be infected themselves," Iris Hunt said.
As of Wednesday afternoon, the city has not released any more giveaways coming up, but a spokesperson said they are working to get more kits.
Drive through testing sites at the Mahalia Jackson Theatre and the UNO Arena are still an option as well for anyone trying to get tested.