CVS Opens Hayward No-Cost Coronavirus Testing Site
HAYWARD, CA — CVS Health expanded its COVID-19 no-cost testing program by announcing 91 additional test sites at select CVS Pharmacy drive-thru locations across California, including six in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The store on Mission Boulevard in Hayward is included.
The opening of the additional test sites on Friday add to the 14 locations opened in California on May 22.
The company late last month committed to establish 1,000 locations across the country by the end of May, with a goal of processing up to 1.5 million tests per month, subject to availability of supplies and lab capacity, according to CVS Helath President and CEO Larry J. Merlo.
Over half of the company's 1,000 test sites will serve communities with the greatest need for support, as measured by the CDC's Social Vulnerability Index, he said. The index tracks a variety of census variables, including poverty, lack of access to transportation, and crowded housing that may weaken a community's ability to prepare for and recover from hazardous events like natural disasters and disease outbreaks.
Self-swab tests will be available to individuals meeting U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria, in addition to state and age guidelines.
Patients must register in advance at www.CVS.com beginning Friday to schedule an appointment. Patients will be required to stay in their cars and will be directed to the pharmacy drive-thru window or a location in the parking lot at a few stores, where they will be provided with a test kit and given instructions, and a CVS Pharmacy team member will observe the self-swab process to ensure it is done properly.
Tests will be sent to an independent, third-party lab for processing and the results will be available in about three days.
Testing will not take place inside any retail locations, and CVS Pharmacy, HealthHUB and MinuteClinic will continue to serve customers and patients.
The additional new testing sites in Alameda and Contra Costa counties are located at the following CVS pharmacies:
4028 Lone Tree Way, Antioch
2000 Driscoll Road, Fremont
26059 Mission Blvd., Hayward
7200 Bancroft Avenue, Oakland
1617 Canyon Drive, Pinole
1550 East 14th Street, San Leandro
— Patch editors Ashley Ludwig and Bea Karnes contributed to this story
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This article originally appeared on the Castro Valley Patch
