CVS Rapid Antigen Test

[12cruise2]

 

Here's my experience this morning booking our CVS Rapid Antigen Test:

We just booked the Rapid Antigen Test at our local CVS this morning early for 9/1 at 9:20 and 9:35 a.  They require tons of info to be typed in and give you 25 mins. to do it while holding the appointment you want.  Be SURE you put in the correct cell phone number (cell required) and email address.  I set up MyChart accounts that CVS requires a few days ago and I entered my husband's email address incorrectly--.neet instead of .net on it, but didn't figure it out until after I'd booked his appointment.  Fortunately I figured it out after he didn't get a confirmation email right away as I did, even tho I am pretty sure I entered his email correctly on the appointment request, so of course now I'm worried about that, tho he did get a confirm. of his appointment when I signed him up, and it is noted in his CVS MyChart account.  Always something to worry about.  You'll need to provide insurance info and date of covid shots--or just answer you got the shot and don't follow up with dates.  They ask for an optional picture to be uploaded and of course that you bring an ID and insurance info to the appointment.  I didn't upload our pictures--remember, 25 minutes--and to me, frankly, it's none of their business--I just would like a covid test!  And my DH and I have two dif. member ID numbers on our new insurance, effective 9/1 of course the day of the shot, tho we are both insured under the same plan, so be careful you don't enter your spouse's ID number as yours--I had them both in front of me and almost made that mistake but caught it.  They give you a confirmation with a proper confirmation number at the end of this process after you've filled things out properly.  Positive reinforcement is always appreciated!

 

They also text you a confirm. and will text test results and a link to go to, something like that.  I'm vague about how fast they post to MyChart--it says 2 days, yikes, on generic pdf that doesn't mentioned rapid test.  I want to get it clear when we go to get tested.  We don't text because we seem to have no need to--except for important stuff like this!

 

They have a place to park at the CVS marked with signs for the test- -we found it today--it's on one side of the building.  You wait there until they call you on your cell, then seemingly someone comes out and you self-swab.  We also received instructions on how to swab yourself.  They had a ton of stuff online at the very end of the signup to print (that's what I did--takes too long to read the pdfs online, and you have only 25 minutes to keep your appt reserved and I was afraid if I didn't do "something" with the info, they'd ding me with an error, wasting more time.)--all general stuff that didn't mention the rapid test or timing on it.  The thing to read is on the CVS web site scrolling down from the home page for CVS covid testing.  There is the info for the Rapid test, for travel, answers insurance questions and such. 

 

So funny, part of the confirmation says you need to wait in the parking spot after you submit your swab for your test result--that it generally takes "hours" to return the result!!!   I just want it in WRITING somehow hopefully by the end of the day 9/1.   Aye.  Questions to ask the person who may bring us the swabs--hope it's not a robot--oh no!   Wouldn't this be the perfect place for a robot!  Do robots get covid?  Have they had their vaccinations?  Hopefully they wear masks!  I'm saying, we'll really need a vacation after this adventure!  Maybe this info will help someone.  I'll try to post 9/1 after the test with how it went.

P.S. our governor finally relented and is allowing school districts to mandate masks!

Edited August 20, 2021 by 12cruise2
added words

[Mandalay1903]

Sorry you had such challenges. Our local Rite-Aid PCR test last weekend was much, much simpler. Set up an appointment online, answered a few questions, arrive at the drive-thru pharmacy at the appointed time, check the DL, take the test and drive home. We each arrived and tested in separate visits. All prompt, paperless and free. Tested on Saturday morning and got our results early Monday morning in time to act as a backup for our Tuesday morning flights in case there was a problem accepting our vaccine cards at the airport (which there wasn't).

[roxybear135]

I got tested at CVS yesterday and had a different experience.  I signed up two weeks prior and received both text and email confirmations.  I received a number of text reminders before the appointment too.

 

My appointment was for 6 pm.  I showed up about 5 minutes before and saw the small mobile shed where they were doing testing, but did not see any marked spots, so I just parked in the closest spot.  There was a sign right outside telling me to wait in my car until I was called.  There were two doors in the shed - one for the CVS employee and one for the person being tested.  I was called promptly at 6 pm and was told to go through the door marked for people getting tested.

 

Inside, there was a large piece of plexiglass separating me from the guy conducting the test.  He asked me for my driver's license and insurance card and took photos of both.  He then took my blood oxygen content (the little finger monitor) and my temperature.  He explained the test to me and watched me swab both nostrils before I placed the swab into the test tube.

 

He told me that I could then leave and he would call me with results in about 20 minutes and I would also receive an email in about an hour.  Less than 10 minutes later he called and informed me I was negative.  The entire test took less than 5 minutes and from the time I arrived to when I got my results was only 12 minutes.  I was also emailed the results in about an hour.  The guy conducting the test was extremely professional and friendly.  I had zero complaints about the process and highly recommend getting tested at CVS if you can.

[12cruise2]

11 minutes ago, roxybear135 said:

I got tested at CVS yesterday and had a different experience.  I signed up two weeks prior and received both text and email confirmations.  I received a number of text reminders before the appointment too.

 

My appointment was for 6 pm.  I showed up about 5 minutes before and saw the small mobile shed where they were doing testing, but did not see any marked spots, so I just parked in the closest spot.  There was a sign right outside telling me to wait in my car until I was called.  There were two doors in the shed - one for the CVS employee and one for the person being tested.  I was called promptly at 6 pm and was told to go through the door marked for people getting tested.

 

Inside, there was a large piece of plexiglass separating me from the guy conducting the test.  He asked me for my driver's license and insurance card and took photos of both.  He then took my blood oxygen content (the little finger monitor) and my temperature.  He explained the test to me and watched me swab both nostrils before I placed the swab into the test tube.

 

He told me that I could then leave and he would call me with results in about 20 minutes and I would also receive an email in about an hour.  Less than 10 minutes later he called and informed me I was negative.  The entire test took less than 5 minutes and from the time I arrived to when I got my results was only 12 minutes.  I was also emailed the results in about an hour.  The guy conducting the test was extremely professional and friendly.  I had zero complaints about the process and highly recommend getting tested at CVS if you can.

Oh, Roxybear, thanks so much for the extra info. Puts my mind at ease.  And I was looking forward to the robot. . .  Yes, I have a backup scheduled with our doc, results take about 24 hours.  Plus other passengers I think have wanted to know more as well.  Thanks for giving the details.

[12cruise2]

25 minutes ago, Mandalay1903 said:

Sorry you had such challenges. Our local Rite-Aid PCR test last weekend was much, much simpler. Set up an appointment online, answered a few questions, arrive at the drive-thru pharmacy at the appointed time, check the DL, take the test and drive home. We each arrived and tested in separate visits. All prompt, paperless and free. Tested on Saturday morning and got our results early Monday morning in time to act as a backup for our Tuesday morning flights in case there was a problem accepting our vaccine cards at the airport (which there wasn't).

Vaccine cards at the airport?  I'm curious what you mean. . .

[CruiseMGM]

Thought I'd pipe in with our experience in Vegas. Out of umpteen million CVS's in town, only THREE do the rapid antigen test. Made an appointment at the one closest to us (still far away), as soon as appointments opened. A week later, got a text and an email that they canceled it due to "temporary closure." Scrambled and managed to find another CVS and made the appointment, on pins and needles the whole time waiting to see if IT would be canceled, too! Thankfully, it wasn't.

 

Making the appointment online, only a few questions to answer and a little information to input (name, phone number, address, that sort of thing). The confirmation text said we could upload our insurance card, but I never got around to doing that.

 

Arrived at the building where the testing takes place. The actual CVS is kitty-corner across the street, while THIS building is just a big empty space (not sure what used to be there). Handwritten sign to come in, so we masked up and walked in. BIG empty space, 3 employees behind plexiglass shielded desks. Mike went to 1 desk and I went to the other.

 

They took my driver's license and corrected my birthdate that I apparently input incorrectly. They never asked, nor did I offer, my insurance card. Mike's person looked at his card but didn't appear to do anything with it. We each did our own swabbing after it being explained to us, to circle in each nostril for 15 seconds. After the first few seconds on the first nostril, I realized they weren't setting a stopwatch or anything, so I counted in my head. Finished the process, stuck the swab in the little vial the employee was holding and that was that. Thanked them, walked out and headed home.

 

We were only halfway into our drive (maybe 15 minutes?) when Mike got a call and his results were negative. I fretted another 5-10 minutes until my call came in. Good thing I didn't swipe the calls away as unknown numbers! Got home and set up a My Chart account for me (Mike already had one), logged on, printed out our results and we're good to go. YAY, rapid antigen test and YAY CVS!!!

 

In contrast.............. because of the canceled appt we'd had, we'd set up ANOTHER appt with the Health District when they opened their schedule. It happened to be earlier the same day, before our CVS test and the website didn't say anything about what KIND of test it was. Our intent was to cancel the CVS test if the Health District test came back in time (we're still waiting!). We were there at our appointment early Wednesday morning, and the nurse said "72 hours" for the results. So it's pretty obviously a PCR test. Got home to an email from the Health District that said due to a backlog in testing, it could be up to SEVEN DAYS before the results were available. Sure glad that CVS came through for us! We fly to Seattle today and board the NA tomorrow!!!!

 

Best wishes to all!

[roxybear135]

9 hours ago, 12cruise2 said:

Oh, Roxybear, thanks so much for the extra info. Puts my mind at ease.  And I was looking forward to the robot. . .  Yes, I have a backup scheduled with our doc, results take about 24 hours.  Plus other passengers I think have wanted to know more as well.  Thanks for giving the details.

It was such an easy and simple process.  I had done a PCR test earlier yesterday also to have as a backup but wasn't sure it would come back in time, but I got those results back today (around 24 hours after I took the test), and both tests were negative.  CVS was way more professional and handled the process better than where I took the PCR test (a Los Angeles city run testing site).  Good luck on your test and don't stress about it!  Sorry you won't get to be tested by a robot though (that would be cool!).

[roxybear135]

49 minutes ago, fyree39 said:

I have a CVS appointment for next the Wednesday in Santa Clarita. I am hopeful I have @roxybear135's experience, but one never knows. I only wish more lines were prohibiting self-serve buffets. I certainly look forward to my next HAL cruise.

I hope you have the same experience.  If you need another alternative, I did a PCR test on Santa Monica Blvd. and Purdue in West LA at one of the City of LA sites that had results right around 24 hours.  Based on talking to a few people there, that seems to be the norm as far as how long it takes to get the results.  I didn't have an appointment and it took only about 15 minutes total, even with having to wait in a short line to check in.  Kind of out of the way for you but better than not being able to go on the cruise.  The site is run by Fulgent Genetics so perhaps you can see if they have any locations closer to you but keep that one as a backup.  They didn't ask for any insurance info or why I was getting tested.

[12cruise2]

2 hours ago, CruiseMGM said:

Thought I'd pipe in with our experience in Vegas. Out of umpteen million CVS's in town, only THREE do the rapid antigen test. Made an appointment at the one closest to us (still far away), as soon as appointments opened. A week later, got a text and an email that they canceled it due to "temporary closure." Scrambled and managed to find another CVS and made the appointment, on pins and needles the whole time waiting to see if IT would be canceled, too! Thankfully, it wasn't.

 

Making the appointment online, only a few questions to answer and a little information to input (name, phone number, address, that sort of thing). The confirmation text said we could upload our insurance card, but I never got around to doing that.

 

Arrived at the building where the testing takes place. The actual CVS is kitty-corner across the street, while THIS building is just a big empty space (not sure what used to be there). Handwritten sign to come in, so we masked up and walked in. BIG empty space, 3 employees behind plexiglass shielded desks. Mike went to 1 desk and I went to the other.

 

They took my driver's license and corrected my birthdate that I apparently input incorrectly. They never asked, nor did I offer, my insurance card. Mike's person looked at his card but didn't appear to do anything with it. We each did our own swabbing after it being explained to us, to circle in each nostril for 15 seconds. After the first few seconds on the first nostril, I realized they weren't setting a stopwatch or anything, so I counted in my head. Finished the process, stuck the swab in the little vial the employee was holding and that was that. Thanked them, walked out and headed home.

 

We were only halfway into our drive (maybe 15 minutes?) when Mike got a call and his results were negative. I fretted another 5-10 minutes until my call came in. Good thing I didn't swipe the calls away as unknown numbers! Got home and set up a My Chart account for me (Mike already had one), logged on, printed out our results and we're good to go. YAY, rapid antigen test and YAY CVS!!!

 

In contrast.............. because of the canceled appt we'd had, we'd set up ANOTHER appt with the Health District when they opened their schedule. It happened to be earlier the same day, before our CVS test and the website didn't say anything about what KIND of test it was. Our intent was to cancel the CVS test if the Health District test came back in time (we're still waiting!). We were there at our appointment early Wednesday morning, and the nurse said "72 hours" for the results. So it's pretty obviously a PCR test. Got home to an email from the Health District that said due to a backlog in testing, it could be up to SEVEN DAYS before the results were available. Sure glad that CVS came through for us! We fly to Seattle today and board the NA tomorrow!!!!

 

Best wishes to all!

Thank you so much for your input.  Honestly, it's a guessing game.  If we're lucky, Walgreen's opens its appointments just after midnight for the day after that (mine here are usually full) AND the day after that.  Have to stay on top of emails, that I do, and texts.  And I did two PCR tests last fall for medical procedures at our doctor's office, and they both resulted in about 24 hours--same as others above.

Edited August 20, 2021 by 12cruise2

[12cruise2]

3 hours ago, CruiseMGM said:

Thought I'd pipe in with our experience in Vegas. Out of umpteen million CVS's in town, only THREE do the rapid antigen test. Made an appointment at the one closest to us (still far away), as soon as appointments opened. A week later, got a text and an email that they canceled it due to "temporary closure." Scrambled and managed to find another CVS and made the appointment, on pins and needles the whole time waiting to see if IT would be canceled, too! Thankfully, it wasn't.

 

Making the appointment online, only a few questions to answer and a little information to input (name, phone number, address, that sort of thing). The confirmation text said we could upload our insurance card, but I never got around to doing that.

 

Arrived at the building where the testing takes place. The actual CVS is kitty-corner across the street, while THIS building is just a big empty space (not sure what used to be there). Handwritten sign to come in, so we masked up and walked in. BIG empty space, 3 employees behind plexiglass shielded desks. Mike went to 1 desk and I went to the other.

 

They took my driver's license and corrected my birthdate that I apparently input incorrectly. They never asked, nor did I offer, my insurance card. Mike's person looked at his card but didn't appear to do anything with it. We each did our own swabbing after it being explained to us, to circle in each nostril for 15 seconds. After the first few seconds on the first nostril, I realized they weren't setting a stopwatch or anything, so I counted in my head. Finished the process, stuck the swab in the little vial the employee was holding and that was that. Thanked them, walked out and headed home.

 

We were only halfway into our drive (maybe 15 minutes?) when Mike got a call and his results were negative. I fretted another 5-10 minutes until my call came in. Good thing I didn't swipe the calls away as unknown numbers! Got home and set up a My Chart account for me (Mike already had one), logged on, printed out our results and we're good to go. YAY, rapid antigen test and YAY CVS!!!

 

In contrast.............. because of the canceled appt we'd had, we'd set up ANOTHER appt with the Health District when they opened their schedule. It happened to be earlier the same day, before our CVS test and the website didn't say anything about what KIND of test it was. Our intent was to cancel the CVS test if the Health District test came back in time (we're still waiting!). We were there at our appointment early Wednesday morning, and the nurse said "72 hours" for the results. So it's pretty obviously a PCR test. Got home to an email from the Health District that said due to a backlog in testing, it could be up to SEVEN DAYS before the results were available. Sure glad that CVS came through for us! We fly to Seattle today and board the NA tomorrow!!!!

 

Best wishes to all!

Bon Voyage.  Have a wonderful cruise.  Good news.  We'll be flying out Friday, 9/3 to Seattle.  We wanted to go to Seattle on the Thursday, but with the uncertainty re covid testing and results being received, we waited until the Friday to fly.

[kiwimum]

Tested at a CVS in Escondido, San Diego County on Sunday.  From pulling up at the designated spot, checkin, self swab, wait, test results (verbal) we were done in 25 minutes.   Email confirmation arrived within the hour.  
One nurse handling 4 cars, very efficient.

[Timbers]

Hi , what is the cost for these tests at cvs and rite aid 

[roxybear135]

24 minutes ago, Timbers said:

Hi , what is the cost for these tests at cvs and rite aid 

It depends on what insurance you have.  I have Kaiser which covers covid testing for all reasons, so it should be free.  Some insurance companies don't cover covid testing for travel purposes so you would have to call and get the pricing if your insurance doesn't cover travel testing.

[12cruise2]

43 minutes ago, Timbers said:

Hi , what is the cost for these tests at cvs and rite aid 

Go to the CVS covid testing web site and scroll down through the Q&A; that should answer a lot of your questions.

https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing

Scroll down and check out whether your state (Maine, Oregon or?) offers what you're looking for.  You might want to start with googling CVS Covid Testing to get the web site perhaps in your state; this link is probably generic, but I don't want to inadvertently refer you to an inaccurate page. . .

[LAFFNVEGAS]

6 hours ago, CruiseMGM said:

Thought I'd pipe in with our experience in Vegas. Out of umpteen million CVS's in town, only THREE do the rapid antigen test. Made an appointment at the one closest to us (still far away), as soon as appointments opened. A week later, got a text and an email that they canceled it due to "temporary closure." Scrambled and managed to find another CVS and made the appointment, on pins and needles the whole time waiting to see if IT would be canceled, too! Thankfully, it wasn't.

 

Making the appointment online, only a few questions to answer and a little information to input (name, phone number, address, that sort of thing). The confirmation text said we could upload our insurance card, but I never got around to doing that.

 

Arrived at the building where the testing takes place. The actual CVS is kitty-corner across the street, while THIS building is just a big empty space (not sure what used to be there). Handwritten sign to come in, so we masked up and walked in. BIG empty space, 3 employees behind plexiglass shielded desks. Mike went to 1 desk and I went to the other.

 

They took my driver's license and corrected my birthdate that I apparently input incorrectly. They never asked, nor did I offer, my insurance card. Mike's person looked at his card but didn't appear to do anything with it. We each did our own swabbing after it being explained to us, to circle in each nostril for 15 seconds. After the first few seconds on the first nostril, I realized they weren't setting a stopwatch or anything, so I counted in my head. Finished the process, stuck the swab in the little vial the employee was holding and that was that. Thanked them, walked out and headed home.

 

We were only halfway into our drive (maybe 15 minutes?) when Mike got a call and his results were negative. I fretted another 5-10 minutes until my call came in. Good thing I didn't swipe the calls away as unknown numbers! Got home and set up a My Chart account for me (Mike already had one), logged on, printed out our results and we're good to go. YAY, rapid antigen test and YAY CVS!!!

 

In contrast.............. because of the canceled appt we'd had, we'd set up ANOTHER appt with the Health District when they opened their schedule. It happened to be earlier the same day, before our CVS test and the website didn't say anything about what KIND of test it was. Our intent was to cancel the CVS test if the Health District test came back in time (we're still waiting!). We were there at our appointment early Wednesday morning, and the nurse said "72 hours" for the results. So it's pretty obviously a PCR test. Got home to an email from the Health District that said due to a backlog in testing, it could be up to SEVEN DAYS before the results were available. Sure glad that CVS came through for us! We fly to Seattle today and board the NA tomorrow!!!!

 

Best wishes to all!

Cheryl and Mike, you are probably on your way but was curious which CVS, I did notice they closed several sites here in Vegas area but luckily the one we planned to go to in Green Valley seems to be the main one. So keeping my fingers crossed for September 1st. Hope you have an amazing cruise!!

[GateGuardian]

I've gotten my PCR test from CVS in Louisville KY, Atlanta GA, and Oakland, CA before. All had drive thru, so no need to park anywhere. I booked my appointment 48hr and they never asked for my ID. Just my date of birth. Got my results in the MyChart app within 24hrs.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sounds like CVS needs to change their name to CVS aka Holland America Covid Testing Center 😂

[summer slope]

Even though we don’t cruise until January I like to be prepared. Thank you all for the cvs information. I’ve downloaded the app and registered for the my chart. 

[zelker]

Part of the problem finding rapid tests undoubtedly has to do with this!  

 

Maker of Popular Covid Test Told Factory to Destroy Inventory (msn.com)

[Laminator]

22 minutes ago, zelker said:

Part of the problem finding rapid tests undoubtedly has to do with this!  

 

Maker of Popular Covid Test Told Factory to Destroy Inventory (msn.com)

I was just going to post that. 

[lstrong]

Is the My Chart app through cvs or a generic app?

[summer slope]

Through cvs 

[GateGuardian]

21 minutes ago, lstrong said:

Is the My Chart app through cvs or a generic app?

 

MyChart is a separate app that is used by multiple healthcare providers. When you install and launch it. it will ask you which partner to join, and then you can choose CVA.

[12cruise2]

58 minutes ago, GateGuardian said:

 

MyChart is a separate app that is used by multiple healthcare providers. When you install and launch it. it will ask you which partner to join, and then you can choose CVA.

I think you mean CVS, not CVA. You can get a link from the CVS web site to set up an acct. on a computer.  On a computer, use this link (I don't use a smart phone) and look under the wording in black letters Covid 19 Testing.  You'll see reference to setting up a CVS MyChart account.

https://www.cvs.com/minuteclinic/covid-19-testing

Edited August 20, 2021 by 12cruise2
added words

[12cruise2]

1 hour ago, zelker said:

Part of the problem finding rapid tests undoubtedly has to do with this!  

 

Maker of Popular Covid Test Told Factory to Destroy Inventory (msn.com)

Oh my goodness!