With the holiday season in full swing and everything being so merry and bright, this time of year typically brings three things: holiday travel, social parties, and family gatherings. Before the pandemic, many of us didn’t think twice about getting together with large groups of friends, co-workers, and/or family members. We didn’t overthink the idea of sitting or talking too closely with someone, drinking out of someone else’s glass to sample what they were having, or being on public transportation with hundreds of strangers. Furthermore, we didn’t think twice about spending multiple days with dozens of extended family members, including elderly grandparents and newborn babies, after traveling on a five-hour flight or attending a party the day before.
Of course, no one ever wanted to be around someone who was sick, but if it was just a little cold, it didn’t seem to stop anyone from going to work, attending school, or showing up for a party or family gathering. I mean, it’s the holidays, you can’t postpone them, and there’s a lot of planning and financial commitment involved in these things! If someone sneezed or coughed at a party or gathering of some sort, it wasn’t analyzed. It wasn’t judged. And it wasn’t feared. We just tolerated it and expected it as part of normal day-to-day life.
But now, post pandemic (with new variants popping up, still in the middle of the pandemic) things have drastically changed! In many parts of the country, you’re required to show proof of vaccination and/or a negative COVID-19 test no more than one day before you travel by air into the U.S. And if you appear sick in any sort of way, people immediately avoid you like the plague and question if you have “the virus.” People find themselves missing work and school based on illness symptoms and pending test results. And there are family members who are proactively asking their extended family to take a negative COVID test before they come to visit for the holidays.
With all that being said, chances are you’re going to need a COVID test sometime this holiday season for one reason or another. And when it comes to health, I know I don’t like to compromise. That’s why I’d like to tell you more about why I exclusively love and use Vault Health for all my testing needs.
I’d also like to add that an at-home COVID test is a great gift to give someone this holiday season and beyond. Since they don’t expire, the test can be used well into the new year or saved for unexpected times of need.
Who is Vault Health?
At the start of the pandemic, the United States didn’t have a national infrastructure in place for COVID testing solutions—and certainly not one that accounted for capacity and scale. In April 2020, Vault Health made a business decision to pivot and deliver at-home PCR COVID-19 tests (done in partnership with Infinity BiologiX and Spectrum Solutions) to address this issue and keep people safe.
Since then, Vault Health has played a major role in the fight against COVID-19. Not only have they provided access to over 10 million COVID tests nationwide (ranging from enterprise and business to public health, education, and direct to consumer), they’ve also set up vaccination clinics and facilitated access to hundreds of thousands of COVID vaccines across the country.
Why Vault Health
In a nutshell, here are my Top 5 reasons why I love Vault Health
- Vault’s COVID test results are through a PCR test, making them highly accurate
- Vault’s COVID tests can be done at home with no appointment
- Vault’s COVID tests are saliva tests, not nasal swab tests
- Vault’s COVID tests are family friendly and non-invasive for children
- Vault’s COVID tests are quick, easy, and reliable with results coming back within 18-48 hours
How the Vault Health COVID Testing Process Works
Vault Health makes it easy to order a test, take it, send it back, and get your results. You order the test online, either directly through their website, or if your state has a partnership with Vault, through the state’s health department website. The ordering process is quick and straightforward as well: Within 24 hours, a test arrives at your doorstep via UPS, and in some big cities, it can even arrive the same day via DoorDash.
Once the test arrives, open the package and follow the instructions to log on to a Zoom video call. You’ll confirm that you haven’t eaten, had anything to drink, or chewed gum for the past 30 minutes, and then you’ll be connected to one of Vault Health’s test supervisors. By the way, you can do this any day of the week (no appointment necessary), but please note the hours of operation for completing your test via Zoom are: Sunday through Thursday, 8am-8pm EST, and Friday through Saturday, 8am-6pm EST.
The test supervisor will be with you the whole time through Zoom video call and guide you towards proper saliva sample collection. You’ll spit into a tube with a funnel at the top until the contents reach the fill line, which can take between 5-10 minutes. It’s not very big, but you may need a little help producing more saliva for a complete sample. When I took the test, the test supervisor gave me a good tip: She said that if I open a jar of pickles and smell them, my mouth will produce more saliva, which will help me fill the tube up faster!
Once you collect your saliva in the small tube, screw the top back on until you hear a “click”. Doing this releases a preservative into the tube that changes its color and kills any live viruses so the sample can’t infect anyone on its way to the lab. Then you place the tube into a bag that they provide, drop it into a pre-paid UPS envelope, and take it to a UPS store. I recommend calling your local UPS store and asking them what time Next Day Air departs so you know exactly when you need to be there to drop the test at the store to make Next Day Air delivery. Once UPS drives it to the nearest airport, the test will typically arrive in the lab the following day, and from there you’ll have your results emailed directly to you within 18-48 hours.
Vault makes it all easy and convenient since they know people want fast results—especially those who rely on that negative test result to travel, attend a concert, or get back to school. You’ll get email updates throughout the process, so you know when it arrives at the lab, once it’s being processed, and when you’ll get the result. But the majority of results come within 24 hours of arriving at lab.
In comparison, a PCR test taken at the doctor’s office typically takes three or more days to process, since the labs they send these tests to do more than COVID testing (e.g., blood sugar or other blood tests), causing much longer wait times for results—sometimes up to a week! But at Vault, their lab partners focus specifically on COVID tests, so you get your results a lot quicker! Plus, when your child is sick, at-home testing can be a more convenient option than taking them to urgent care, especially when most doctor’s offices aren’t seeing sick patients at the moment and prefer doing telehealth services.
For those worried about having their result in time, this is where Vault’s at-home test really shines. I highly recommend ordering your test a few weeks in advance; this way, when you’re 48 hours out from needing a result, you simply need to take the test and send it back. The tests don’t expire, so you can order it and hold onto it until needed. Just keep in mind shipping schedules for weekends or holidays, and always making sure you take it directly to a UPS drop-off location, rather than a third-party drop off. An example case would be: If you’re flying out at 10am PST on a Saturday, you’ll need to take your test at 10am PST on the Wednesday before.
What Makes Vault’s COVID Tests so Unique and Preferred?
Two of the most unique aspects of Vault’s COVID test is that it provides the user with the same high accuracy you’d expect from PCR tests completed at a doctor’s office, from the comfort of home; and a turnaround time that outpaces an overburdened healthcare system. People also really like Vault because it’s a saliva test, making it a less invasive and more comfortable option than a nasal swab. It’s a lot easier to spit into a tube.
A test’s effectiveness doesn’t depend on whether it’s a saliva or nasal sample. In fact, both PCR and antigen tests can be either saliva or nasal. The method you choose is simply your personal preference. But what does matter is your choice in doing either a PCR or rapid antigen test—PCR tests are always more accurate.
Where Can You Order a Vault Health COVID Test?
To order a COVID test, visit: VaultHealth.com/covid
Find out more About Vault Health on The Parentologist Podcast
To learn even more about Vault Health, please listen to Episode 18 of The Parentologist Podcast where I interview Dr. Myles Spar, the National Medical Director for Vault Health.
Leave a Reply