The demand for COVID-19 tests is high in the Bay Area amid the omicron variant, but supply remains low for many stores.
Now, San Mateo County officials are fighting back by rolling out vehicles full of COVID-19 tests for residents to come by.
San Mateo County officials gave out free COVID-19 tests all day Sunday in several cities including Daly City and Hillsborough.
South San Francisco resident Breyanna Ransaw told NBC Bay Area’s Scott Budman Sunday that she was trying to do the right thing before going to work.
"I saw my family on Christmas and found out they were exposed," she said.
Ransaw said that she drove to several drug stores earlier Sunday but wasn’t able to find a single COVID-19 test.
“I actually went to five different stores to find a rapid test but i'm supposed to work today and everybody's been sold out,” she said.
San Mateo County, which went from 40 recorded COVID-19 cases a day to hundreds of cases a day in the last two weeks, is rolling out free tests in several cities, admitting there are not enough tests to go around.
"There aren't many pharmacies now that you can go and get self-tested,” said San Mateo County supervisor David Canepa. “That's problematic, that's extremely problematic and so as a county, we're going to have to lean in and we may have to do much much more than we're doing now."
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The tests are giving people like Ransaw a chance, for now to get piece of mind.
"I wanna be responsible, you know. I love my co-workers and I would hate to get them sick,” Ransaw said.
To see a full list of COVID-19 testing sites in San Mateo County, visit smcgov.com/testing.
