Demand for Covid-19 testing at home has increased dramatically in recent weeks as the Delta variant increases in the United States, causing test makers to keep pace.
Abbott Laboratories said it expects home test supplies to be limited in the coming weeks as it hires workers and restarts factory lines that were slowed or slowed earlier this summer. The availability on Amazon.com of Abbott’s BinaxNOW test and a similar test done by Quidel Corp. has been scarce and a home test by Ellume USA LLC was sold out as of Wednesday. The tests, which detect fragments of viral proteins called antigens, can be found with irregular access to store shelves and websites.
A home molecular test by Lucira Health Inc. is sold out on the company’s website. A company spokesman said Lucira is boosting production.
Abbott, who has sent tens of millions of tests home, cut test production in early June and July, when demand was low, and laid off workers in Illinois and Maine.
“While there will be some supply constraints over the next few weeks as we step back; we are putting company-wide resources to help meet this unprecedented demand,” an Abbott spokeswoman said in a statement. “It’s hard to increase speed, but we’re doing it again, like we did last year.”