Alabama to receive more than 1 million rapid COVID-19 tests

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced on Sept. 29 that the State of Alabama would be receiving more than 1 million Abbott Laboratories BinaxNow rapid response COVID-19 tests from the federal government.

These rapid response tests provide COVID-19 test results in 15 minutes and will be made available for free to Alabama residents, with priority to school children and vulnerable residents.

“Before we knew much about this novel virus and before we had our first confirmed case in Alabama, President (Donald) Trump and his administration have been diligent in providing any additional resources that we needed in our state,” Ivey said in a statement. “These rapid response tests are going to be a welcome resource as we work to get our students back in the classroom and Alabamians back to work. As we anticipate a successful vaccine in the near future, providing Alabamians – especially our students and vulnerable citizens – with this free resource will be another critical tool in the toolbox to combat COVID-19.”

The Alabama Department of Public Health will be receiving shipments of the rapid response tests in phases, beginning with a shipment of 96,000 tests in the next week.

The federal government announced it would be distributing the rapid response tests based on state population. The federal government ordered 150 million rapid response tests from Abbott Laboratories during the summer.