Covid Test Makers Struggle to Cope With Whiplash From Omicron

As the omicron variant sends U.S. Covid case numbers soaring to new records and drugstores and walk-in clinics clamor for test kits, suppliers have been struggling with their own mounting problems: Infected workers, delayed government authorizations for new tests and the pressure of panic buying and hoarding have left these companies scrambling.

Vault Health, a telehealth company that now sells tests, has found itself shuffling test samples across the country, as sick lab workers who usually processes its at-home PCR test stay home. In New Jersey, one of the labs Vault regularly contracts with had more than 40% of its workforce out with Covid recently, ...