CVS adds 13 COVID-19 testing sites in state, including four in Fairfield County

As part of Connecticut”™s effort at ramping up its COVID-19 testing, CVS Health has announced that 13 additional test sites at select CVS Pharmacy drive-thru locations across the state ”“ including four in Fairfield County ”“ will be available beginning tomorrow.

The additional sites include 47 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury; 1770 Kings Highway in Fairfield; and 229 Hope St. and 1938 W. Main St., both in Stamford.

The test sites join the 12 others that CVS opened in the state on May 15.

The new sites will utilize self-swab tests and mark the next phase of the company”™s nationwide COVID-19 testing strategy, announced April 27. Patients must register in advance at CVS.com beginning on May 22 to schedule an appointment. Upon arrival, they will be required to stay in their cars and directed to the pharmacy drive-thru window where they will be provided with a test kit and given instructions, and a CVS pharmacy team member will observe the self-swab process to ensure it is done properly.

Tests will be sent to an independent, third-party lab for processing and the results will be available in approximately three days.

The company cautioned that no testing will take place inside any of its retail locations.

CVS Health expects to have up to 1,000 locations across the country offering the service by the end of May, with the goal of processing up to 1.5 million tests per month, subject to availability of supplies and lab capacity.

The 25 test sites in Connecticut are part of a total of nearly 350 locations across 14 states including Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.

“As we move into a new phase of combating the pandemic and as communities begin to safely open up their local economies, we need testing to be easily accessible,” said Troyen Brennan, chief medical officer and executive vice president, CVS Health. “By further expanding the number of drive-thru test sites available across our retail network, more people can be tested closer to home in a familiar setting.”

Once fully operational, more than half of the company”™s 1,000 test sites will serve communities with the greatest need for support, as measured by the CDC”™s Social Vulnerability Index. The index tracks a variety of census variables including poverty, lack of access to transportation, and crowded housing that may weaken a community”™s ability to prepare for and recover from hazardous events like natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

The additional new testing sites in Connecticut include: