Cardinal Health today announced that it has partnered with Abbott and Quidel to broaden access to over-the-counter rapid COVID-19 tests.

Cardinal Health will use its distribution network to support access to Quidel’s QuickVue At-Home OTC COVID-19 test and Abbott’s BinaxNow COVID-19 antigen self-test. Both tests allow users to easily perform tests for the virus without a prescription.

“Cardinal Health’s safe reopening offerings and broad channel presence will play a key role in widening access to testing,” Douglas Bryant, Quidel president and CEO, said. “Quidel and Cardinal Health have collaborated closely since the start of the pandemic to serve the country with these COVID-19 testing solutions. On March 17, 2020, just days after the U.S. declared COVID-19 a national emergency, we received emergency use authorization of our high throughput PCR testing platform and, that very same day, announced that we partnered exclusively with Cardinal Health to distribute it rapidly and broadly. This was essential early on in the global fight against the virus – and the work didn’t stop there.”

COVID-19 over-the-counter rapid tests allow individuals to easily implement screening and surveillance testing programs in the workplace and schools.

“Rapid over-the-counter tests will be pivotal in supporting the safe and sustained reopening of our country, especially as we see a rise in cases due to the Delta variant,” Chris Kerski, senior VP and GM of Cardinal Health laboratory products, said in a news release. “Because we offer a full suite of solutions for COVID-19 testing, as well as vaccine transport and storage, Cardinal Health has been helping organizations and communities determine the best solutions for bringing their populations safely back out of the home since the pandemic began. We’re proud to say we now offer these over-the-counter products as part of our holistic laboratory products portfolio.”