Ontarians scramble to get rapid antigen tests in provincial holiday test blitz
Published December 16, 2021 at 1:38 pm
Ontarians are scrambling to get access to rapid tests at pop-up locations across the province after the provincial government launched its holiday test blitz on Thursday (Dec. 16).
Resident Dan Jelly said he went to a pop-up site in Hamilton, Thursday morning to pick up some tests in time for the holidays, which he plans to celebrate with his extended family.
Jelly said he lined up with a few hundred others for rapid antigen tests at a pop-up site outside the Dundurn Castle landmark, but was told they ran out in less than half an hour.
On her way to work this morning, Jacqueline Vincent says she passed by a swarm of people outside of the Richmond-Adelaide Centre pop-up site in downtown Toronto.
Vincent, who already got some free rapid tests from her workplace, says it looked like there were several hundred people in line at the centre trying to secure some rapid tests.
Premier Doug Ford has said the province is making millions of free rapid tests available at pop-up sites across the province and has asked the federal government for more.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2021.
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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
The Canadian Press