Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy at our local CVS. This in and of itself wasn’t unusual. My mission, however, was new.

I went to buy an at-home COVID-19 test. 

I didn’t purchase it because I felt ill (I didn’t) or because I had come in contact with someone who was (I hadn’t). No, I purchased the test because I’m seeing colleagues this week, my mother flies in Thursday night, and we have parents weekend at my daughter’s school next weekend. All of which require us to be COVID-free. In a country where the Delta variant is still running rampant, at-home COVID tests are now an important preventative measure and means for curbing outbreaks.

I am certainly not alone, as the nearly bare shelf at CVS confirmed. According to an article in The Washington Post, testing is now “part of a broader shift away from the restrictions that upended life last year and towards individual mitigation measures intended to help people protect themselves against a virus that isn’t going away anytime soon.”

Those sobering words “isn’t going away soon” are a little less distressing when you find ways to take charge. I bought three at-home kits; all my upcoming trips require proof of a negative result and thus I’ll need to test weekly this month. And to be clear, I am fully vaccinated thanks to Moderna, but still recognize that, like all those vaccinated, I can carry —and spread — the virus. 

I’ll be honest, I’d read a number of negative reviews of home tests in general, but was surprised at how easy it was to administer — although you’re encouraged to swab sections of your nose so high up that you feel like you’re touching your brain. Uncomfortable, but relatively painless.

And in 15 minutes I had peace of mind.

So, what does this “access to DIY COVID testing” mean?  Will this be the next normal? It certainly feels that way for now. In fact, now that I’ve gone through it, I will likely go buy more. For my daughter. For my husband. With my mother traveling into town, I want to ensure we are all virus free or at least knowledgeable.

Excessive? It might seem that way to some, but it also seems like a fairly small and easy step to take. Not just for myself, but for the people I work with, live with, and love.

It’s a concept that goes back thousands of years. It’s the so-called “golden rule” of virtually every religion and belief system: “Do unto others as you’d have them do to you.” It’s the motto of Alexandre Dumas’s Three Musketeers, “One for all and all for one.” Or you can trace the idea back to the U.S. founding fathers: “United we stand, divided we fall.” 

The message is clear. 

We’re all in this together. When we stay safe, we keep each other safe too.