SPOKANE, Wash. — Drug stores like Walgreens sell take home COVID tests for around $20, but many locations have been out of stock for weeks.
COVID testing is in high demand. The lines at both Spokane County drive-thru testing sites have wrapped around buildings.
Right now, there's a good chance you can save time by going to an urgent care clinic.
"The amount of COVID testing we're doing is higher than ever before," said Stephanie Cowen-Johnson of MultiCare. "The need is really, really high."
According to Johnson, even though tests are in high demand, most patients are getting in the same day at local Indigo Urgent Care clinics.
"The sooner they can come in, the better," Johnson said. "And so if you know that you need testing today or tomorrow, certainly try to get an appointment first thing in the morning. So we do open up our appointments in the morning."
Johnson added that if there are no appointments available, the urgent care clinics accept all walk-ins.
"If there's no appointments available we certainly accept all walk-ins and when you come in we'll let you know what the wait time is looking like and what your place in line is and how to check that online and how to check that on your phone so you can monitor that throughout the day," Johnson said.
Once checked in, patients get a swab in each nostril. These samples are then tested on site.
"The test itself takes 20-minutes on the machine, although we would never guarantee that turnaround time," Johnson said.
Indigo clinics also use a molecular based test.
"It's much different than the home antigen test – the test that you buy over the counter or at the grocery store or the pharmacy," Johnson said.
MultiCare is not the only walk-in clinic around town. Providence offers COVID tests at express care and urgent care clinics around Spokane.
COVID tests are free. But, if you do not have insurance, you may have to pay out of pocket to see a specialist, unlike the free drive-thru testing sites in Spokane County.