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Walmart and Kroger are raising prices for one of the more widely used at-home coronavirus tests, leading critics to accuse the U.S. retailers of exploiting an Omicron-fueled surge in demand for the kits to pad their bottom lines.

The companies said Tuesday that they are moving to hike prices for Abbott’s BinaxNOW tests following the expiration of a September deal with the White House under which they sold the kits at cost—$14. Abbott is the firm that, in mid-2021, instructed a factory assembling its tests to destroy millions of the products, citing then-dwindling sales.

Walmart will now offer the highly sought-after kits—which include two rapid Covid-19 tests—for $19.98 per box and Kroger will sell them for $23.99.

“This is pandemic profiteering, plain and simple,” the Groundwork Collaborative, a progressive policy organization, said late Tuesday. “Shame on Walmart and Kroger for price gouging these essential tests during the height of the worst pandemic surge.”

Critics also argued that the price hikes reflect the Biden administration’s failure to use its authority to ensure the universal availability of at-home coronavirus tests, which have been expensive and often difficult to obtain in the U.S. over the course of the pandemic. In October, as Vanity Fair reported last month, the Biden White House rejected a plan that would have significantly ramped up test supply in time for the holidays.

Jeff Hauser, founder and director of the Revolving Door Project, demanded the firing of White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Jeffrey Zients, “whose failure to utilize the Defense Production Act for tests or [personal protective equipment] demonstrates a greater fealty to private profit than the public interest.”

Attorney and healthcare advocate Matthew Cortland similarly warned that “the failure of the Biden administration to fully leverage the Defense Production Act and related legal authorities is costing American lives.”

During a media briefing on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki declined to say whether the administration is engaging with Walmart or Kroger in an effort to bring the prices for the BinaxNOW test back down.

“I can’t give you an update on any conversations,” Psaki said in response to a reporter’s question about the price hikes. “I can tell you that our objective is, of course, to increase and scale up access to free tests.”

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