COVID-19 test makers struggle to cope with surge

As the omicron variant sends U.S. COVID-19 case numbers soaring to new records and drugstores and walk-in clinics clamor for test kits, suppliers have been struggling with their own mounting problems: infected workers, delayed government authorizations for new tests and the pressure of panic buying and hoarding have left these companies scrambling.

Vault Health, a telehealth company that now sells tests, has found itself shuffling test samples across the country, as sick lab workers who usually processes its at-home PCR test stay home. In New Jersey, one of the labs Vault regularly contracts with had more than 40% of its workforce out with COVID recently, said Jason Feldman, the company’s chief executive officer. Vault had to route tests from the Northeast to the Midwest, where there are fewer COVID cases. That combined with the volume of tests has led to a delay in processing, with tests results taking 36 hours or more instead of the promised 24 hours.

Suppliers have also been caught off guard by uncertain demand beginning the delta wave last summer followed by the sheer speed of omicron’s onslaught. Some either scaled back or stopped production of COVID-19 tests altogether as the virus waned and public health guidance suggested vaccinated people no longer needed to take tests. Leading test-maker Abbott Laboratories shuttered one of its factories, scaled back production at another and destroyed test card components the company decided were likely to expire before they would ever be needed. Other smaller companies decided to wind down their COVID-19 testing business altogether, pulling out of contracts to return to the production jobs they had prior to the pandemic.

“Less manufacturing and fewer distributors means more pressure on existing test makers,” said Feldman. “But even if there were enough tests available, everyone is hoarding rapid tests.”

All this comes amid the Biden administration’s pledge to make more than 500 million tests available to Americans for free. Officials said this week more than 200 million rapid COVID tests are now available a month, up from around 50 million in September. Last fall, the administration said it would invest more than $3 billion in an effort to expand rapid virus testing. But it has not yet finalized the contracts for those 500 million rapid tests and it remains unclear how such contracts could be quickly filled.

“There’s no such thing as 500 million tests available anywhere,” said Feldman.