[NABS-L] Free At-Home COVID Tests from US Postal Service

Thu Jan 20 18:06:18 UTC 2022

Hi all,

I personally don't think taking an at-home test may be very feasible at this point, blind or sighted. I understand there may be issues with scheduling and things of that nature, but it appears that the problem is most people (disabled or not) don't know how to use the at-home tests correctly. I've heard that if you're not using the test properly, it can actually yield a false negative whereas you might very well be positive (albiet something like 1 in 98-99 percent chance). So I personally feel that if you want/need to take a COVID test, it would probably be better to have it done by a  professional who actually knows what they're doing.

If you have a drugstore nearby, you can always go down there and request a rapid test, or schedule an appointment for a PCR. I, for instance, traveled to France last month to visit my maternal relatives (my first time traveling up there in well over two years), and I had to get tested right before returning home. I was fortunate that there happened to be a pharmacy right within walking distance from my hotel, so I was able to walk down there and obtain a rapid test the day before my flight back home. Additionally, in a few weeks I'll be traveling down to Bethesda, Maryland, to the National Eye Institute, to see if my total blindness since birth may be the result of a rare genetic disorder (something that has always been a mystery to my family and I). Before arriving there, the receptionist told me that my parents and I would all need to schedule a PCR test no more than 72 hours before the appointment, and she told me that they don't accept any rapid COVID tests (so likely no at-home test either);  they absolutely must be PCR. That's probably the very reason at-home testing isn't always 100 percent reliable to begin with.

My apologies for the unnecessary personal anecdotes here, but as you can probably tell by my message, I personally don't think this issue is unique to the blind. It seems just as easy for a sighted, able-bodied person to botch their at-home test, even, perhaps, with the instructions they have at hand. I'm not against anything the NFB is doing about this, but I honestly don't know if they can really do much about this if sighted people are having the same problem.

I hope everyone has a good start to their spring semester, or whatever you're doing currently.

Thanks,

Sami

On Jan 19, 2022 2:48 PM, Chris Nusbaum via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hi All: 
>
> First, to Justin and anyone else currently going through Covid symptoms, 
> here's hoping for a speedy recovery and a relatively mild case. Though it's 
> true that the virus is still going around and all of us still have the 
> potential of catching it, the vaccine certainly does seem to help a great 
> deal. 
>
> As I think about the issue of inaccessible Covid tests, it seems at first to 
> be a no-brainer that we should do everything we can to advocate for the 
> accessibility of testing and all other related treatments. However, I'm 
> curious as to how a manufacturer or the government would make an at-home 
> Covid test accessible? Perhaps the NFB has already proposed a design 
> solution and I just haven't read it yet, but I'm wondering what we plan to 
> suggest to the Biden administration and the companies making the actual test 
> kits. I would appreciate hearing perspectives on this. 
>
> Stay well! 
>
> Chris 
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Capelle, Michael via 
> NABS-L 
> Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2022 3:28 AM 
> To: 'National Association of Blind Students mailing list' 
> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> 
> Cc: Capelle, Michael <mcapelle at fastmail.com> 
> Subject: Re: [NABS-L] Free At-Home COVID Tests from US Postal Service 
>
> We should just be glad we have the testing to do at home, I ordered my kit 
> yesterday. 
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Justin Salisbury via 
> NABS-L 
> Sent: Tuesday, January 18, 2022 7:15 PM 
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> 
> Cc: Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu> 
> Subject: [NABS-L] Free At-Home COVID Tests from US Postal Service 
>
> Hi everyone, 
>
> If you want to request your free batch of at-home covid tests, you can get 
> them from this link: 
>
> https://special.usps.com/testkits 
>
> So far, I have not heard of any response from the Biden Administration after 
> President Riccobono began the formal NFB outreach initiative to ask how we 
> could make these tests accessible to the blind. I really hope we can find a 
> way to make these tests accessible soon. In the meantime, if you want to 
> order these inaccessible tests, they may still be useful to you. 
>
> I am personally in the process of recovering from COVID-19 right now. I have 
> had symptoms for 7 days, and it has been like a nasty winter cold. I 
> consider myself fortunate to have had access to both the vaccine and 
> booster. Without them, I could have become much sicker. Before I can go back 
> on campus, I need to have two consecutive days of negative rapid antigen 
> tests. Since I cannot perform these tests myself, I have made arrangements 
> with student health services at my university so that they will perform the 
> test on me once I am fully asymptomatic. That is still not ideal, but I 
> share this with everyone in case it is helpful in the process of 
> problem-solving your own returns to campus after you have been infected. 
>
> If not for what I have learned from the National Federation of the Blind, 
> the self-advocacy that I had to do with this testing might have been much 
> more difficult. The Federation has taught me that I have the right to live 
> in the world. 
>
> I hope everyone takes this virus seriously. 
>
> Be well, everyone. 
>
> Aloha, 
>
> Justin 
>
>
> Justin Mark Hideaki Salisbury 
> he/him/his 
>
> Second Vice President 
> National Association of Blind Students 
> A proud division of the National Federation of the Blind 
> Mobile: (808) 797-8606 
> Email: president at alumni.ecu.edu<mailto:president at alumni.ecu.edu> 
> Website: www.nabslink.org<http://www.nabslink.org/> 
>
>
>
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