Amazon is reportedly selling its own brand of COVID-19 testing kits directly to the public via its online platform. According to sources, test results will be available on an Amazon’s diagnostics website which was initially designed for employee use only.

The test kit is priced at USD 39.99 and can be purchased on Amazon Prime with one-day shipping in select areas of the U.S.

Amazon COVID-19 testing kit involves a nasopharyngeal swab, wherein patients can take a nose swab at home and place it in a container with a prepaid return label. The swabs are then shipped to a centralized lab for further testing.

The online retailer had previously received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its COVID-19 testing kit in March this year, for testing its onsite employees. In later filings, Amazon’s subsidiary, STS Lab Holdco, received clearance for self-collection, and a second emergency use authorization for a DTC (direct-to-consumer) test kit, as per sources.

Notably, Amazon offers COVID-19 testing kits by the patient-centric genomics company DxTerity, and a rapid 10-minute test kit by Quidel, for USD 99.00 and USD 24.95 respectively.

The company has also started providing at-home healthcare and telehealth programs to other employers since March 2021 and offers six-month prescriptions for common medicines starting at USD 6.00 via its Amazon Pharmacy program, sources confirmed.

The ‘in-house’ COVID-19 test kit comes as the newest addition to Amazon’s expansive healthcare line.  

Market experts have revealed that, at-home medical testing has been receiving renewed attentions since the past year, as companies race to provide COVID-19 tests that can be taken conveniently, without a trip to the hospital.

This development may induce other types of at-home tests, such as flu tests, to be introduced to the market much earlier than predicted.

Source Links –

https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/15/22535453/amazon-covid-test-consumers-available