Over the past year, people have seemingly had a difficult time finding at-home COVID tests, especially here in NJ. But last week, everyone’s favorite place to get lost in the world of shopping announced that they have released their own line of COVID test kits for the price of $39.99.

Amazon has been working on these kits for some time, and many people took advantage of Prime for next day shipping. I recently spent some time in a local emergency room pretty darn sick. What I probably had was a garden-variety gastroenteritis, but since my symptoms were all over the place, I started thinking that maybe I had COVID-19.

Even though I’m pretty sure that I have a natural immunity, having lived with several people who had it, and since I’m not vaccinated against it I thought, “Hey, maybe this is it." I mentioned this to several people at the hospital and no one seemed to believe that COVID was a possibility, so I wasn’t tested.

I was dying to take a test on my way home that day and I just didn’t have the energy. Had I known I could’ve ordered a test online, I would’ve done it.

Many states make these available through their local or state government, but not us. Not only is this Amazon kit great news for people in areas with less COVID testing centers, but what if you’re just tired of driving through pharmacies and urgent cares having swabs stuck up your nose? Many people who are positive for COVID end up having to leave their homes to be tested, but this kit relieves the need.

So now you may be wondering how exactly we know the kits are trustworthy. Firstly, the kits are FDA authorized and have also been tested by a ton of front-line employees. In addition, the kits are not rapid tests, which in my eyes guarantee the most accurate results.

These kits can also be purchased by anyone over the age of 18, and no prescription is required. Once you have received your kit, all you need to do is swab your nose and ship the sample back to the Amazon diagnostics laboratory using the prepaid return label that comes with the test. The results are then processed within a day and posted on Amazon's secured browser.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco. Any opinions expressed are Judi Franco’s own.

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