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A Menlo Park biotech company is offering COVID-19 tests and will be open to the public daily.
Avellino Lab, which specializes in gene therapy and molecular diagnostics, is conducting PCR swab tests seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the company announced on Friday, Jan. 28. The site is located by the office’s west parking lot at 4300 Bohannon Drive.
An appointment won’t be required, according to Angela Lapre, global head of corporate communications. Patients will register on site and will be asked for health insurance.
Lapre said the company will follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control Prevention and aim to provide test results within 48 hours. “But that could quickly change if there’s another spike,” she said.
Avellino uses its own COVID-19 tests that were given Emergency Use Authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in 2020. The company processes the samples at its laboratory 4.5 miles away from headquarters. The lab is certified by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments program, which allows a lab to accept human samples for diagnostic testing.
At its peak, the lab can process up to 30,000 tests, according to Lapre.
Lapre said the company decided to open the testing site as a way to support the community amid the surge of coronavirus cases due to the Omicron variant.
“We just wanted another lever to be able to support the community at an even more direct capacity, right in our backyard in our headquarter parking lot,” she said.
Avellino operates additional testing sites in San Jose and Cupertino. To date, Avellino has conducted more than 2.5 million COVID-19 tests, according to a press release.
The Menlo Park site will be open “as long as demand warrants,” Lapre said.
To find more testing sites within San Mateo County, visit smcgov.org.
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It would have been useful IF the reporter had asked & reported the cost to the public:
1) Those with insurance:
– How to ensure that their provider will pay the full amount
&
2) Those with NO insurance – including foreign nationals visiting the USA
Hello CyberVoter,
You posted two great questions, and we are happy to answer them!
For the Avellino testing sites, for US citizens who are both insured or non-insured, there are no upfront costs for the Covid-19 test so long as they bring with them the required identification and/or documentation.
For patients with insurance, they should bring their insurance card and ID to help ensure the test is properly processed.
For patients without insurance, they need to bring their ID or social security number so their claim can be properly processed via the CARES act.
Depending on insurance status, the cost of the test is covered either by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) or the HRSA uninsured program.
Non-California residents can also test so long as they bring their ID, insurance or social security number.
For non-US citizens, such as those in the US who have traveled here from another country, they need to pay for testing prior to collection and also bring their local ID. They can seek reimbursement via their local government’s Covid-testing policies.
Thank you,
Avellino