Political | Process

Prices are increasing for some of the cheapest and most popular at-home COVID-19 test kits in the U.S;

BinaxNOW COVID tests had cost about $14 for a box of two, but will now cost $20 at Walmart and $24 at Kroger, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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• The $14 price was artificially low as part of a deal that Walmart, Kroger and Amazon struck with the federal government, according to the Journal.

• At other locations such as CVS and Walgreens, BinaxNOW packs have cost $24 for months.

• But the deal ended in December, and while Walmart and Kroger got in the holiday spirit and kept prices low for an extended period, that changed beginning Tuesday, the Journal reported.

• The tests are sold-out on Amazon, so it’s unclear if the nation’s largest online retailer will join Walmart and Kroger in hiking the price.

• Rapid antigen tests, like those from Binax, are increasingly hard to find as COVID’s omicron variant spreads at breakneck speed across the U.S. More than one million cases were reported Monday, the most by far of any day since the beginning of the pandemic.

SOURCE: MARKETWATCH