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One testing site is at the Rite-Aid store on Franklin Turnpike in Waldwick (Bergen) and the other on Route 303 in Valley Cottage (Rockland).
More are being added at stores in both states, including one due to open Monday at the Rite Aid in the Camden County town of Barrington and another at a Jersey Shore Rite Aid in Toms River on Wednesday, the company said.
Another Rite-Aid COVID-19 testing site is scheduled to open Monday in upstate New York's New Hartford.
The way it works:
- You pull up to a designated table and, without leaving your car, take a kit and administer the nasal swab it as a pharmacist guides you through the process;
- You then give the specimen to the pharmacist;
- It goes to BioReference Laboratories, which produces results within seven days – and informs you via email, text, phone call or through an app or web portal, the screening site says.
The tests, conducted in partnership with Verily’s Project Baseline, are free from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.
You first must answer screening questions that determine whether you’re eligible for testing under guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. You then make an appointment.
CLICK HERE: Project Baseline (Rite-Aid)
You don’t need a doctor’s prescription, the screening site says.
And you must be at least 18.
The swab tests are "not intended for people experiencing severe symptoms," including severe cough, severe shortness of breath, severe fever, or other symptoms that likely require immediate medical attention, the screening site says.
Verily created the program via a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The goal is to expand testing in hotspot areas – for which Bergen and Rockland more than qualify.
Rite-Aid began with a pilot test in Philadelphia a month ago. Since then, it’s added a dozen sites nationwide, with nearly as many more coming soon.
The company says it expects to conduct up to 200 tests a day.
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