CVS vs Walgreen's

I am using them in Orlando, and that is where the person I know used them. I also have a backup CVS appointment in Orlando booked.
Thanks for the reply! I'm still decently jaded by my horrible experience with MCO/AdventHealth so any testing that is cheap and/or convenient has me apprehensive until someone actually says 'yes this works and we recommend it'. I need to have a PCR test done for return to work so the NAAT at Walgreens is out for me. I've done PassportHealth a few times and they have been great but they are not for everyone. Drive thru and are quite pricey. That being said their 24hr guarantee for a PCR test {my tests have all been 4-8hr return for results posted} and them fitting me in when MCO/AvH were useless, keeps me going back. Maybe my Oct trip I'll try BeeperMD once a couple of you using them gives the ol'thumbs up! :thumbsup2
 
Thanks for the reply! I'm still decently jaded by my horrible experience with MCO/AdventHealth so any testing that is cheap and/or convenient has me apprehensive until someone actually says 'yes this works and we recommend it'. I need to have a PCR test done for return to work so the NAAT at Walgreens is out for me. I've done PassportHealth a few times and they have been great but they are not for everyone. Drive thru and are quite pricey. That being said their 24hr guarantee for a PCR test {my tests have all been 4-8hr return for results posted} and them fitting me in when MCO/AvH were useless, keeps me going back. Maybe my Oct trip I'll try BeeperMD once a couple of you using them gives the ol'thumbs up! :thumbsup2

NAAT is a PCR test.
 
I realize that but work needs to see the actual PCR wording on the test not NAAT and I'm fairly certain the Walgreens does not say PCR on it. It's not worth arguing with work over.

I understand your position, but it might be worth explaining to your work that a NAAT is a TYPE of test and PCR is a METHOD of testing. It's easily cleared up with a simple Google search that will define what a NAAT is, for Covid testing purposes. It is a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, which literally looks for fragments of viral DNA. PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction, which is one way HOW the NAAT test is run.

The alternative is an ANTIGEN test, which looks for a specific protein on the surface of the live virus inside your nose or throat. You need a lot of virus to get a positive antigen test, which is why they are sometimes not authorized.

ETA: the Walgreens test results actually do say RT-PCR on them. I am looking at my last test result now and it is on both the lab .PDF and the email with the results summary. My husband recent one also says RT-PCR. They are from 2 different labs, Labcorp and PWN Health. The Labcorp one says specifically on it "NAA-Nucleic Acid Amplification tests include RT-PCR and TMA"
 
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I understand your position, but it might be worth explaining to your work that a NAAT is a TYPE of test and PCR is a METHOD of testing. It's easily cleared up with a simple Google search that will define what a NAAT is, for Covid testing purposes. It is a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test, which literally looks for fragments of viral DNA. PCR stands for Polymerase Chain Reaction, which is one way HOW the NAAT test is run.

The alternative is an ANTIGEN test, which looks for a specific protein on the surface of the live virus inside your nose or throat. You need a lot of virus to get a positive antigen test, which is why they are sometimes not authorized.

ETA: the Walgreens test results actually do say RT-PCR on them. I am looking at my last test result now and it is on both the lab .PDF and the email with the results summary. My husband recent one also says RT-PCR. They are from 2 different labs, Labcorp and PWN Health. The Labcorp one says specifically on it "NAA-Nucleic Acid Amplification tests include RT-PCR and TMA"
100% agree and appreciate the reply. Think I'm up to 18 tests now due to travel; all varying kinds. At one point I did try explaining but it was easier for them to be closed minded and give the standard it's this or nothing answer so I've moved on. But I definitely appreciate the help!
 
Update: We are in Orlando now and have our BeeperMD appointments this morning. I have already received a text from the doctor confirming at what time she will be here. So far, good service and convenient. Nice that we don’t have to taxi anywhere off property. Will update after test!
 
Update: We are in Orlando now and have our BeeperMD appointments this morning. I have already received a text from the doctor confirming at what time she will be here. So far, good service and convenient. Nice that we don’t have to taxi anywhere off property. Will update after test!

Did you get the email to upload your insurance documents? Did you just sign that you do not have insurance? Did you have to upload everyone's ID? Thanks.
 


Did you get the email to upload your insurance documents? Did you just sign that you do not have insurance? Did you have to upload everyone's ID? Thanks.
I just selected no insurance and the person that did the test took pictures of our photo ID when she was here.

She showed up on time and I met her in the lobby. Did the tests in our room, easy peasy!
 
I just selected no insurance and the person that did the test took pictures of our photo ID when she was here.

She showed up on time and I met her in the lobby. Did the tests in our room, easy peasy!

Thanks - great to hear. Can you please keep us posted as to when you get your results?

Thanks.
 
So we did our tests with BeeperMD yesterday morning and we received our results this evening within the 36 hours they say it will take. Service was amazing and free! I would highly recommend it to anyone, so much more convenient than figuring out how to get to a CVS or Walgreens.
 
Do you absolutely HAVE to be in a car to test at the drive thru? I don’t see anywhere (that I can find anyway) that says they will turn you away if you walk up to the window. I’ve tested at a drive thru at Walgreen’s in Ohio and I’ve gotten out of my van to test my kids in the back seats. Not sure what the real difference would be? I just called the Walgreen’s on International (closest to Universal) to see if they would allow walk ups and the guy I talked to said it wasn’t a problem and that lots of people do that. 🤷‍♀️ I’m nervous that he’s wrong though. My sister is Canadian and needs to take a test on her way home from our Universal trip.
 
Do you absolutely HAVE to be in a car to test at the drive thru? I don’t see anywhere (that I can find anyway) that says they will turn you away if you walk up to the window. I’ve tested at a drive thru at Walgreen’s in Ohio and I’ve gotten out of my van to test my kids in the back seats. Not sure what the real difference would be? I just called the Walgreen’s on International (closest to Universal) to see if they would allow walk ups and the guy I talked to said it wasn’t a problem and that lots of people do that. 🤷‍♀️ I’m nervous that he’s wrong though. My sister is Canadian and needs to take a test on her way home from our Universal trip.

Never mind. I found something on Walgreen’s website saying you have to be in your car.
 
Has anyone used a taxi for the Walgreens or CVS drive-thru? If possible I'd rather book at Walgreens drive-thru next month. But I will not have a rental. So I would need to take a taxi through the drive-thru... I would hope the taxi driver wouldn't mind. But if anyone has experience there that would be great.
 
Has anyone used a taxi for the Walgreens or CVS drive-thru? If possible I'd rather book at Walgreens drive-thru next month. But I will not have a rental. So I would need to take a taxi through the drive-thru... I would hope the taxi driver wouldn't mind. But if anyone has experience there that would be great.
I haven't yet but I arrived on Friday and took a Mears taxi to Universal and asked the driver and he said yes they do it
 
+1 here for BeeperMD.

It was very easy to setup the appointment for 5 of us and I was able to upload our passport information when setting up the appointments. The tester texted prior to arrival and met me in the lobby of the hotel, came to our room and tested all 5 of us. She was very polite and professional. Results came in around 30 hours or so, all free.

I showed the results at the Delta check in counter and at Canadian customs, without issue. The results had our names, address of the hotel and our birthdates. They did not have our Passport numbers on them, even though there was a space for it. I would have felt more comfortable if it did, but no one asked about it.

As an aside - we have an 11-year old unvaccinated daughter. We had some issues with the Delta agent in Orlando. She was trying to tell us that we needed to have Day 1 and Day 8 testing setup prior to boarding the plane, which I know from my research is false. I asked to speak to a supervisor, who called it in and was told we were fine as long as we had our PCR tests. The funny thing was that even after that, the agent took the phone from the supervisor and tried to convince their call centre she was right. In the end, she just hung up the phone, handed us our boarding passes and passports without saying an additional thing.

I was a little surprised when we returned to Canada, my 11 yr old daughter was given a "Testing Exempt" status because the rest of us are vaccinated. She did not have to test at the airport and does not have to do a follow up test. She still has to loosely quarantine, but no testing. I was not expecting that at all.
 
+1 here for BeeperMD.

It was very easy to setup the appointment for 5 of us and I was able to upload our passport information when setting up the appointments. The tester texted prior to arrival and met me in the lobby of the hotel, came to our room and tested all 5 of us. She was very polite and professional. Results came in around 30 hours or so, all free.

I showed the results at the Delta check in counter and at Canadian customs, without issue. The results had our names, address of the hotel and our birthdates. They did not have our Passport numbers on them, even though there was a space for it. I would have felt more comfortable if it did, but no one asked about it.

As an aside - we have an 11-year old unvaccinated daughter. We had some issues with the Delta agent in Orlando. She was trying to tell us that we needed to have Day 1 and Day 8 testing setup prior to boarding the plane, which I know from my research is false. I asked to speak to a supervisor, who called it in and was told we were fine as long as we had our PCR tests. The funny thing was that even after that, the agent took the phone from the supervisor and tried to convince their call centre she was right. In the end, she just hung up the phone, handed us our boarding passes and passports without saying an additional thing.

I was a little surprised when we returned to Canada, my 11 yr old daughter was given a "Testing Exempt" status because the rest of us are vaccinated. She did not have to test at the airport and does not have to do a follow up test. She still has to loosely quarantine, but no testing. I was not expecting that at all.
Thanks for the post/info. Just wondering if they took a photo of your ID? Believe @MyGirlLovesTink mentioned they did when her family was tested. Thanks
 
Thanks for the post/info. Just wondering if they took a photo of your ID? Believe @MyGirlLovesTink mentioned they did when her family was tested. Thanks

They did not. I asked the tester about it, but she said because we uploaded it when we booked the testing, she did not need to do it. She verified it on her app and said we were all good.
 

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