unvaccinated children NOT eligible for Telehealth appointments

[Sanoma]

Hey everyone! I thought I would write regarding this. Royal Caribbean will NOT allow children that are not fully vaccinated to submit a negative Telehealth result. I bought 5 Telehealth kits off of Royal's website. After combing through the website I noticed this statement in the "Be ready to Board" section.  "vaccinated guests may also opt for a video-supervised at-home testing kit or testing outside of the terminal (limited availability)" This did not immediately scream to me that this does NOT include unvaccinated children. I decided to read over and over their protocols and on a separate screen I read that unvaccinated children could not use the Telehealth kit. I wanted to put this out there that if you are traveling with children and you as a vaccinated person opted for the Telehealth screening as my family did... you will need to get a separate test for your children. Royal Caribbean's site says these places are acceptable "In addition to a local testing provider (pharmacy chain, doctor’s office, lab or local testing center)" We decided to get our children tested at the airport 2 hours before our flight and would receive the results 15-20 min after the test. Just a heads up!

[JeffB]

Good catch ...... even though the proctored AG tests (e.g. Abbott's Binax Now among others) are considered reliable indicators of a COVID infection if present, the data suggests that a trained health care provider administering the test and having it read by that trained provider is a step up in reliability form the process available through a proctored AG test. My take is that this is hair splitting but it is what it is. 

I can't speak for other areas but testing provided by clinics within a pharmacy in south FL are easily accessible, have competent nurse practitioners who administer rapid AG tests and read and record the test results. You'll walk out with a print copy of the test results that meet CDC and FL State authority's requirements for reporting results. I recommend the U of Miami clinics associated with Walgreens pharmacies. You can call U Miami clinics directly, talk to a human and schedule a rapid AG test at a Walgreens that works for you.

Good luck. We've got this. 

[Sanoma]

Thanks JeffB! I appreciate it! Quick question. Do you know if I NEED a printed copy of the results or would a digital copy on my phone be ok? The testing center at the airport said they would send me a copy through my phone. 

[smokeybandit]

This is a CDC rule that RC has to follow. One of the more stupid CDC rules.

[JeffB]

10 hours ago, Sanoma said:

Thanks JeffB! I appreciate it! Quick question. Do you know if I NEED a printed copy of the results or would a digital copy on my phone be ok? The testing center at the airport said they would send me a copy through my phone. 

Those RCL staff (or it may be terminal staff using tablets that connect with RCL's on-board health screening system) will accept digital proof of your negative Rapid AG test. Digital test reports might contain a QR code that when it is scanned your test results and all the required details of it (test date, type test, test result, time of result, etc.) are downloaded to RCL's system. I can't speak in detail about this issue but QR codes can be squirrely meaning the scanning device and associated software may not be able to read the QR code. I know this is an issue between countries in Europe. I've not heard that it is an issue between testing labs/clinics that produce a digital QR code containing test results and cruise lines that scan them. But for that reason, I try to carry a hard copy. If, in your case you can't print out a hard copy from your phone try this: on your phone, download the digital report as a.jpg file (there will be some kind of app installed on your phone or your phones browser to do that. Then email that file to yourself. If you have access to a PC connected to a printer (e.g. at home or office) open your email and print the attachment. Voila.  

Another option: return to the test center at the airport and ask them to print a copy of the results ...... that may be your best bet as I get from your post that you're traveling and won't be around a PC connected to a printer. Also airports have business centers. You may be able to access one of these and get to a PC that's connected to a printer.

I'd say the chances of your digital AG test result on your phone working fine are high with only a minimal risk that it won't. Go with what you're comparable with.