SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Between surging cases of COVID-19 due to the omicron variant and a rush to get tested after holiday gatherings, testing lines are long – across the country and in Sacramento.
“I've been waiting for two hours,” Sequita Thompson said Monday morning, outside La Familia Maple Neighborhood Center in Sacramento. “It’s cold out here.”
The line outside La Familia was anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours long throughout the late morning and early afternoon.
Over the course of the pandemic, Thompson estimates she has come to this site for testing about 10 times, “and [the line] has never been like this until today."
Susie Alcala is site supervisor for La Familia Career Center and helps with this community testing location, which has been offering free tests every Monday throughout the entire pandemic.
“Usually, it takes a few minutes – tops, 15 minutes – and you’re in and out of here, but as you can see with the line, the demand is great,” Alcala said. “It’s because of the holidays – because they’re going back to school also, and they just want to be safe. Many, many people just don’t know if they’ve exposed or not, and so we’re here to calm their fears.”
Jerry Vang is on site as the health team’s lead resource coordinator.
"Try to come early in the morning before the line gets really long,” he said.
Sacramento County spokesperson Samantha Mott said the county has no shortage of tests.
"We do have, you know, plenty of tests in the county; it is a matter of demand increasing,” Mott said. “If you want to get tested, there are places that you can go to get tested, you may have to wait in line however."
She said the county also doesn't have a shortage of people working to administer the tests either, but she added that the county is working to expand capacity at some testing sites.
"There's only a number of hours that they're able to be open. There's only so many people who can work, and they can only work so fast," Mott said. "It is truly just a matter of increased demand."
Some people in line at La Familia Monday tried other testing methods first, but they found drive-thru testing appointments at local pharmacies booked solid – and the nationwide over-the-counter antigen rapid-test shortage leading to empty shelves where they were once available at pharmacies.
Sacramento mom Maryann Barroga called it "frustrating, because you want it done at home, but there's nothing to use. There's nothing available to buy anywhere here."
She was there with her two kids and husband, all of whom were trying to get tested before the kids returned to school Tuesday – and because their son had been exposed through a friend.
Her husband, Al Barroga, said he looked online for over-the-counter rapid tests.
"Everything is out,” he said. “Amazon, everywhere, it's out. So, yeah, we don't have a choice, really; we have to fall in line here."
ABC10 Health Expert Dr. Payal Kohli said something must change.
"I think in the next few months, looking forward, we're going to need to funnel some resources into the manufacture, the supply and the distribution of these tests,” she said. “We also, I think, need to work with private insurance companies and private payers to make sure that people realize they don't just have to go to the government testing sites; they can go to a clinic that offers testing and have the clinic provide that testing free of charge.”
Dr. Kohli recommends casting a wide net; there might not be any available drive-thru testing appointments in your area, but if you're able to make a longer drive, you might be able to find availability sooner, with shorter waits-- including on sites like Project Baseline.
Back at La Familia, sisters Angelica and Veronica Holloway left after waiting an hour and a half, once they saw progress slowing during the lunch hour.
"I think it's great that the community has these out for free, but they don't really have a lot of people going around talking about what, you know, the wait times are,” Angelica Holloway said.
"I don't think anyone here knew that it was going to be a two-, three-hour wait,” Veronica Holloway said.
Jerry Vang acknowledged the line did slow down over the lunch hour, but said it was because workers staggered their lunch this day in order to keep the line moving instead of shutting down altogether from noon to 1 p.m., as they do on days that are less busy.
People can find free testing sites in Sacramento County HERE.
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