It is a first-of-its-kind in the United States. A vending machine that offers Covid-19 home test kits to the public.
Wellness 4 Humanity unveiled the vending machine at its new flagship wellness location in New York City yesterday.
The vending machine is contactless and the tests are self-administered. The RT-PCR saliva tests are 99% accurate and the rapid antigen test is 97.4% accurate, according to the company.
The tests are $119 and could be covered by insurance.
The idea is simple. Buy the test online, receive a barcode and show it to the scanner on the vending machine. Seconds later a test will pop out. Inside the box is a test vial and instructions on how to offer a saliva sample.
A return label is printed on the box. Drop the box at FedEx and wait a day or two for the results.
"Our plan is to essentially roll out a thousand vending machines in the next three to six months all around America," said Wellness 4 Humanity co-founder Pavel Stuchlik, during the media rollout.
"Our whole solution with these machines is that we bring them into centralised locations such as subways, grocery stores, shopping malls or airports. And you could be walking by and you don't have to wait in long lines," he added.
Mr Stuchlik said the goal of the automated vending machines is to give anyone who needs a test access to one. "Our core demographic right now is people that need to come back to work, music festivals or any sorts of gatherings that are hopefully coming soon."
He said they are ready to keep the vending machines stocked to offer 300 to 400 tests per day.
Similar vending machines have been installed in Hong Kong and in the UK and earlier this month, UC San Diego unveiled vending machines that offer tests for Covid-19. But the tests at UC San Diego are only for students, not the general public.
New Yorkers can now purchase a Covid-19 home test kit from a vending machine. The company behind the project aims to roll out 1,000 of the machines all around the country in the coming months | https://t.co/0qyrbn9Skk pic.twitter.com/NNCv1Yw2PV
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) January 27, 2021
