You can get almost anything from a vending machine – a sandwich, a soft drink, snacks, and, uh, some other unmentionable items.
Now you can get a COVID-19 test kit from a vending machine, at an airport no less.
Travelers using Oakland International can quite literally purchase a do-it-yourself COVID-19 test from a vending machine for around $140. Oakland is believed to be the first airport in the country to offer consumers the test via a vending machine.
Sorry, you’ll need cash or credit card; it won’t take 560 quarters.
“As one of the first airports to offer on-site rapid COVID testing, we are now providing even more testing options for travelers,” Bryant L. Francis, Port of Oakland aviation director, said in a statement. “We still urge travelers to make sure they are current on any quarantines and regulations at their destinations.”
The vending machines are made by the same company, Wellness 4 Humanity, that placed this vending machine in New York City last week.
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The test kits are located at both airport terminals in contactless kiosks, and they do require users to submit a saliva sample via FedEx. People will receive the results of the test on their mobile phones. So for now the vending machine tests are mostly for people flying into Oakland who need a test to prove they are negative. It is not rapid response and will not benefit travelers flying out of Oakland into another destination. The airport has, however, been offering last-minute, curbside rapid testing for several months for $120.
“Obviously, we don’t recommend people taking the test right before they hop on board a flight,” airport spokesperson Roberto Bernardo told KRON. “But when they come home, there’s a lot of people who are thinking of quarantining — they’re not sure that, you know, maybe they, you know, got the virus during their travels, so that when they arrive at Oakland International Airport, when they land — they have this option to go to the vending machine and use it.”
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