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By Imogen McNamara and Rachel Holliday Smith, The City
This article was originally published on by THE CITY
Recent weeks have brought a rise in COVID-19 cases across the city, returning many sniffling, coughing city dwellers to the days of testing, medicating and quarantining. But the infrastructure around getting help for COVID has changed since previous surges.
THE CITY spoke with health experts to find out the latest information on how to get (and report) a test right now, how to get COVID treatments — particularly Paxlovid — and when we’ll get the next round of boosters.
Got a question we haven’t answered here? Email ask@thecity.nyc with the subject line “COVID question.”
How To Get a COVID Test in New York City
Since the height of the virus’ spread in 2020 and 2021, there are fewer sites to get a free COVID test, but many are still operating.
The city runs four express testing locations where you can get a rapid PCR test — by appointment only — in Morrisania in The Bronx, Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the Upper West Side in Manhattan and Jamaica, Queens. The health department promises results within 24 hours.
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PCR testing is also available at all 11 of the city’s public hospitals and its public Gotham Health Centers. You can call (844) NYC-4NYC which will transfer you to the COVID hotline to make an appointment.
Both the express testing locations and PCR tests at public hospitals are available regardless of immigration status. You do not need identification to get a test and all city-run sites operate at no-cost to the test seeker.
There are also over 200 locations around the city where you can get at-home tests for COVID for free. You can still get free at-home COVID testing kits at many public institutions and facilities like libraries, recreation centers and food pantries. For a full list of test pick-up locations maintained by NYC Health + Hospitals, click here.
What If My Home Test Is Expired?
Many New Yorkers have a small stockpile of at-home COVID tests, but beware that tests have expiration dates and the Federal Drug Administration does not recommend using them beyond the date printed on the box.
However, the FDA has extended the expiration date for some at-home test manufacturers who “provided data showing that the shelf-life is longer than was known when the test was first authorized,” the agency’s website says. To check your test’s expiration date, check the FDA’s COVID-19 Diagnostic Tests web page.
How To Report Your Tests Results
The CDC still “strongly encourages everyone” who takes an at-home COVID test to report the results, whether it is positive or negative, and recommends doing so through MakeMyTestCount.org, a collaboration between the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health and the health-care technology company Care Evolution.
New York State’s COVID testing tracker does not include self-reported at-home tests.
Even if the data from MakeMyTestCount is not used by your state or county, those who are using the at-home test data say it helps them develop a better virus surveillance tool for the future.
Having accurate testing data helps scientists understand how the new strain is spreading too. When people test less or do not report cases it makes it more difficult for epidemiologists, said Dr. Albert Ko, a professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases at Yale School of Public Health. “It makes it more challenging to understand is [the virus] more transmissible? Is it more virulent?” he said.
How To Get Paxlovid Now
If you do contract the virus, medications like Paxlovid can help alleviate symptoms and prevent hospitalization for high-risk patients.
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Right now, to get Paxlovid you need a prescription, which you can get from your doctor. You can also get a prescription from a state-licensed pharmacist, including those at popular chains like CVS, Walgreens or Duane Reade, as well as at digital Alto Pharmacy, which partners with the city to offer free home delivery.
“Most prescriptions are filled through pharmacies now,” said Patrick Gallahue, spokesperson from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
To be eligible for a prescription you must be over the age of 12 (and weigh over 88 pounds) and be at high-risk for hospitalization or death from COVID-19. This includes people with asthma, heart conditions, people who are over the age of 65 and those who are immuno-compromised. For more information see the list of at-risk conditions published by the CDC.
Paxlovid is free for now, but Pfizer has plans to put Paxlovid on the commercial market, with initial reports suggesting it could happen by mid-2023, though there has been no change for consumers as of yet.
While the medication itself is still free for now, be aware that if you are uninsured or under-insured, your pharmacy may charge you for a pharmacist consultation if you get a prescription that way.
There is currently an “ample” supply of the medication in New York and across the country, according to a spokesperson from NYC Health + Hospitals.
The Paxlovid I Got is Past Its Expiration Date. Is It Safe to Take?
When you are given your Paxlovid medication, you may find that the expiration date printed indicates that the medication is out of date.
Don’t worry: Pharmacists are aware of this and the medication you just received is likely perfectly fine to take. That’s because in 2022, Pfizer, with approval from the FDA, extended the expiration date of certain batches of Paxlovid from anywhere between 12 to 24 months.
Convincing customers of that, however, has been tough for pharmacists who spoke with THE CITY recently. In Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a pharmacy technician said it’s “the biggest issue right now” in their store.
To check when your medication really expires under the FDA-approved extension, you can enter the lot number on the side or bottom of the corner here.
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When to Get the Next Booster Shot
A booster vaccine is expected to become available in the next few weeks according to NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan. While it is not yet clear whether the booster will provide complete immunity to the new variant, initial indicators suggest that it can prevent severe illness and death.
Even before the new booster becomes widely available, there are things we can do to protect ourselves and according to Dr. Albert Ko.
“[We can be] doing things that make sense, wearing a mask … avoiding large crowds,” he said.
“It’s always good to be cautious.”
THE CITY is an independent, nonprofit news outlet dedicated to hard-hitting reporting that serves the people of New York.
Something wrong here?
“Paxlovid is free for now, but Pfizer has plans to put Paxlovid on the commercial market, with initial reports suggesting it could happen by mid-2023…”
“Free” is a bit misleading. The government is paying for it for now, so there is no cost to consumers. Once that deal changes, Pfizer will seek a profit elsewhere, likely consumers
…where on the UWS are the tests free?
Check the public libraries. St Agnes on Amsterdam was out of them last week but they may get more.
Gail Brewer’s office, 87th and Columbus.
Any Covid advice that includes boosters makes it all suspect.
That’s ok, Bill. Don’t take the booster and take your chances. But since you’re clearly a thinking and caring person, be sure to wear your face mask to protect yourself and others.
Everyone who has Covid should be isolating regardless of their vaccination status.
What is the point of a healthy person regardless of their vaccination status wearing a mask?
If you’re a healthy person of any age, wearing a mask inside in a public setting would make a lot of sense if…
You don’t want to get sick during the current uptick before the booster is available (next week?),… if you trust modern medicine.
You don’t want to catch whatever else might be going around that’s “less severe”, with full on in-person schools opened.
You’ve come out of 5 days of isolation (no symptoms) and you’re not sure how much virus is still spewing out when you’re inside. (Consideration of others, recommended 5 more days)
BTW, I watched Oppenheimer this week at the still packed IMAX screen this week and there were about 5-10% masking during a known covid uptick. I enjoyed Nolan’s Dunkirk more, but I watched it at home. I recommend the IMAX experience if you like Chuck Close portraits (BIG and male). Wear a mask and manage your bladder. (3+ hours)
Thank you for this helpful info.
This is great information, thank you!
Thanks for the good, detailed information. I read it in The City this morning but I’m happy to see it targeted to WSR readers as well. Covid: it ain’t over till it’s over.
Originally, the CDC and the media promised us that vaccines would prevent us from getting Covid. They were wrong. Here, we read “it is not yet clear whether the booster will provide complete immunity to the new variant… indicators suggest that it can prevent severe illness and death.” Could they be wrong again? Our First Lady just tested positive today for Covid a 2nd time, following multiple boosters. Big question: why is natural immunity NEVER mentioned? Fun fact: 72 senators and 302 members of the House (both Ds & Rs) cashed a check from the pharmaceutical industry’s PACs ahead of the 2020 election — representing more than 2/3 of Congress. Dozens invested in Pharma stock. In Jan 2020 Moderna stock traded below $20, but by peaked in Sept 2021 at more than $455 a share. Cost of natural immunity? Zero.
The reason for getting the vaccine is to reduce the devastating effects of Covid , which it does. The vaccine works!
The vaccines were extremely effective at preventing infection from the original strain of COVID. Since the scientists that developed the vaccines are not fortune tellers, they could not predict the characteristics of the strains that evolved after the development of the vaccines, and the vaccines were not as effective against those more infectious strains. Sometimes life happens that way.
As for “natural immunity”, the only way to get that is by getting COVID. The cost of that is definitely not zero. For well over a million Americans, the cost of that was their lives.
The CDC may have been wrong about vaccine preventing covid. But it still keeps most people from getting deathly ill. And the booster may not protect against the new strain 100% – just like flu vaccines are not 100%. But they tip the scales in your favor. Notice how fewer people are dying since vaccines were rolled out? When was the last time you saw a makeshift morgue set up to handle the dead from covid?
Actually? The vaccines was effective against the initial strain. Cases dropped to near zero. So yes, the “original” representation was true.
The variants hit and the vaccine “merely” became protective against serious illness meaning the odds you’d be hospitalized or die were a small fraction of those of the unvaccinated.
Which is why, since mid 2021, the death rate in counties with low vaccination rates are twice that of the counties with high vaccination rates.
Thank you! The original vaccine did prevent transmission! Amazing how this fact is completely ignored or forgotten.
Due to the variants of COVID, now the vaccine may not prevent transmission but it greatly reduces the chance of serious illness.
I’m not going to fight this battle in the comments but I’m glad to see at least one person remembers the original vaccine did prevent transmission. Now back to crazy land!
No vaccines ever have prevented transmission. You can’t be sick and not contagious.
Vaccines either prevent a disease or don’t, but in no way they prevent transmission if a person is sick
No vaccine can prevent transmission, Covid or not. If you are sick, you are contagious, period.
Along with our 3 kids we went to get testing before a trip (PCR tests were *required* prior to travel according to the country- St. Lucia)— we went to the “pop-up” location on 86th just by CVS and although they advertise free tests, we just found out from our insurance that those tests are actually $285/EACH. $1425 for tests… which were never even looked at when we arrived. It’s SO FRUSTRATING. Falsely advertised, outrageously expensive, not to mention, wildly different that what we’ve experienced after 3+ years of no-fee testing and caution being here in the city throughout the pandemic.
Very important article. Thank you!
I can’t understand why a temporary mask mandate — or at least a strong request — is not initiated N OW to curb the spread, not after the fact allowing so many people to get sick. It really should be instituted in medical facilities and indoor venues in my opinion.
I wore the masks and got the vaccine and boosters as required, but I wish we were talking more about side effects from the shots. I’ve has some long-lasting health problems since the last two booster shots.
This issue has been so overtaken by fanatics on both sides that you can’t discuss reasonable concerns without one or the other of them hijacking the conversation.
I have been there. The issue is largely ignored and used for political reasons only instead of medical research.
I experienced bad long-lasting side effects from the shots, similar to long Covid. However I am not advertising against or for vaccines. I am strongly against using this as a political issue. My take on it – pick a lesser evil, everyone’s situation is different.
Testing is crucial, thank you WSR and commentators regarding the test sites info
Not sure whether this would make you feel better or not – but I was told by a researcher in this field that at least one point they had reached a conclusion that those who would have had the worst reactions to getting sick are also the most likely to have side effects from the vaccine, but not as severely. I took that as at least some comfort that the vaccine was at least some help.
But yes; I agree that it is frustrating that you can’t have a reasonable discussion of the issues. No vaccine is risk-free – but it has to be weighed against the available alternatives, not against the risk-free state. Those who experience the risks coming to pass should be able to get help and discuss the solutions rationally.
In any event, I’m sorry you are having longer-term effects.