Workers in retail, hospitality, and other public-facing industries in Maine have more options to get routinely tested for COVID-19. Maine Health Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew announced Wednesday that more than 60 Walgreens locations across the state will provide free rapid testing using Abbot BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests.
"With this change, Maine DHHS encourages anyone who works in a setting with elevated risk for COVID-19 transmission, who is not fully vaccinated, to get tested routinely," Lambrew said.
Lambrew said even though nearly 65% of Maine residents age 20 and older are fully vaccinated, nearly 400,000 remain at risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
Though the state is encouraging testing up to twice a week for unvaccinated workers who may be exposed on the job, the free rapid tests are available to anyone ages three and older.
