Charnelle Charlestin just started [ [link removed] ]a petition to Walmart CEO Dough
McMillon and Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen:

We need affordable COVID-19 test kits now!

[ [link removed] ]Sign now
Walmart CEO Dough McMillon and Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen are putting
their greed above the health of our communities

[ [link removed] ]Image of a Black woman wearing a mask with the text 'Tell Walmart &
Kroger: ION GOT IT. We need affordable COVID-19 tests now

Tell Walmart and Kroger: We need affordable COVID-19 test kits now!
  

[ [link removed] ]Take Action


Dear John,

I just started a petition titled "[ [link removed] ]Tell Walmart and Kroger: We need
affordable COVID-19 test kits now!"

My family and I contracted COVID-19 around the holidays. A few days after
Christmas, my body began to feel as though it was literally shutting down.
It began with some minor coughing that led to fatigue, fevers of over 102
F, shortness of breath, and body aches. I couldn't even walk without
feeling pain on the soles of my feet. While dealing with the physical
impact of getting sick, our family decided to drive to the closest
drive-thru testing site every three to four days until we each tested
negative, since we could not afford to spend thousands of dollars on
private testing. Packing up my family while trying to "quarantine,”
driving, and then sitting and standing in some of the longest lines we had
seen up to that point was the worst feeling and situation any family could
endure. There was a Walmart only minutes away from my home in Broward,
Florida. We should have been able to buy affordable at-home COVID-19 tests
there, but leaders like Walmart CEO Dough McMillon and Kroger CEO Rodney
McMullen decided to take advantage of the high demand for tests by pushing
the prices up by over 40%. No family should have to choose between
spending money on necessities like food and bills, and spending money on
tests that help us stop the spread of COVID-19 in our
communities. [ [link removed] ]That’s why I’m calling on Walmart and Kroger to sell their
COVID-19 testing kits at cost!

In September 2021, the Biden administration announced that it made a deal
with retailers like Walmart and Kroger to ensure that COVID-19 at-home
tests would be sold for no more than the cost of production at $14. But as
soon as the deal ended in December, both chains pushed the price of the
kits up, in some cases as high as $80. When I tried to buy tests from
Walmart over the holiday season, each one cost $40. That meant testing all
five people in my household using the at-home kits would have cost $200.
Spending that much money every time we needed to test would have been a
huge financial burden on us. With the cost of living increasing in my
city, the prices of COVID-19 test kits were simply too high. Now, as the
Omicron variant continues to spread through our communities, these
companies continue to charge obscene amounts of money for test kits, in a
moment when so many people like me are just trying to make ends meet.

[ [link removed] ]Will you sign the petition and forward this email to make sure your
voice is heard? Add your name here.

COVID-19 tests should be affordable, if not FREE. Walmart and Kroger are
making the decision to push test prices up knowing full well that what
they are paying their own workers is not keeping pace with the higher
prices of basic necessities. In November, inflation reached a four decade
high of 6.8%, while hourly-workers only received an increase of 4.8%. In
the meantime, our hospitals are still overwhelmed. Patients are still
being forced to delay life-saving treatment and surgeries. And we are
still seeing some of the highest rates of deaths due to COVID-19 since the
height of the pandemic in 2020. It’s not right. Walmart and Kroger could
easily sell COVID-19 test kits at cost and still make some of the highest
profits of any company in this country. Instead, they are exploiting our
desperation to keep ourselves and our families safe. Tell Walmart and
Kroger they must provide affordable COVID-19 test kits, today!

[ [link removed] ]Enough is enough. Tell Walmart and Kroger our communities deserve fair
access to affordable COVID-19 tests.

Thank you,

Charnelle Charlestin

 

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[ [link removed] ]Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black
folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. [ [link removed] ]Help
keep our movement strong.

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