'Tremendous Demand' For COVID Tests On New Year's Eve In Boston
DORCHESTER (CBS) – The line outside of DotHouse Health in Dorchester inched along. It's one of the only sites open for walk-in COVID-19 testing in Boston this New Year's Eve and people were eager to see if they'll ring in 2022 virus-free.
"Everyone, even those who are vaccinated, should consider getting a COVID-19 test if possible before gathering indoors," said Dr. Bisola Ojikutu of the Boston COVID-19 Advisory Committee.
Unless you managed to get rapid test kits, a swab was hard to come by. The majority of the city-run testing locations were closed for the holiday.
There's typically a line around the block at the Bowdoin Street Health Center, but not today. People were greeted by empty tents and told to return Monday when testing resumes.
If it's anything like the post-Christmas rush, there will likely be a long wait. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu talked about the testing shortage Thursday that's happening not just in Boston, but statewide.
"We also saw very, very long lines," said Mayor Wu. "We saw a tremendous demand for testing that has been impossible to keep up with all the way from the city perspective alone."
But help is on the way. The city is trying to expand testing in the coming weeks to alleviate the wait.
"Our plan is to add three additional standing testing sites by early to mid-January. We're moving as fast as we can to do that," said Dr. Ojikutu.