COVID testing options are scant over the New Year’s weekend, but here are a few suggestions

Heading into another holiday — and amid yet another variant surge — you may be like many Middle Tennesseans who are wanting to get tested for COVID. What might surprise you is how few pop-up and drive-thru options are available this New Year’s weekend.

Unlike at the beginning of the pandemic, when testing tents were cropping up often, many of those locations have shifted their focus to vaccines. That’s left primary care physicians, walk-in clinics and major pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens to fill in the gaps. Though PCR and rapid tests still have some availability at pharmacy locations citywide, WPLN News can’t speak for the availability of at-home tests. We’re anecdotally hearing they’ve been harder to find.

There’s also a short list of event-style testing centers open the next few days. Those could be worthwhile if you’re coming back from holidays away or planning to head out for New Year’s Eve.

Friday, Dec. 31

Metro Public Health: PCR testing at Lentz Public Health Center (2500 Charlotte Avenue) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. No appointment necessary.

Vanderbilt Health: PCR testing at One Hundred Oaks (719 Thompson Lane) from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. No appointment necessary.

Rutherford County Health: The county’s primary test site in Murfreesboro is closed Friday through Monday, but PCR testing will be available at the La Vergne multi-purpose government building (5093 Murfreesboro Road) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 1

Vanderbilt Health: PCR testing at One Hundred Oaks (719 Thompson Lane) from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. No appointment necessary.

Rutherford County Health: PCR testing at the La Vergne multi-purpose government building (5093 Murfreesboro Road) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 2:

Vanderbilt Health: PCR testing at One Hundred Oaks (719 Thompson Lane) from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. No appointment necessary.

Rutherford County Health: PCR testing at the La Vergne multi-purpose government building (5093 Murfreesboro Road) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 3:

Metro Public Health: PCR testing reopens at the city’s two regular drive-thru locations (350 28th Avenue North and the former K-Mart at 2491 Murfreesboro Pike), which will be open noon to 3 p.m. on Monday. PCR testing is also available Monday at Gra-Mar (575 Joyce Ln) from 3 to 6 p.m. No appointment necessary.

Rutherford County Health: PCR testing at the La Vergne multi-purpose government building (5093 Murfreesboro Road) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Note that Neighborhood Health also offers weekday testing in Nashville, but the nonprofit prioritizes its efforts where health care affordability is a concern for community members. They can be reached at 615-227-3000.

Test result wait times are also creeping back up. So to stay safest in the interim, the CDC is recommending the continued use of masks with “two or more layers of washable, breathable fabric,” that fit your face snugly without any gaps, and that have “a nose wire to prevent air from leaking out of the top of the mask” to help stop the spread of the highly transmissible variants. The CDC suggests taking a step further now and finding masks that meet newer designations from ASTM International and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, which you can read more about here.