As local governments scramble to minimize the impact of the highly contagious COVID-19 omicron variant, some governments have more tools than others to fight the spread.

Across the Hudson Valley this week, people have been lining up — hundreds deep — outside pharmacies with hopes of scoring rapid COVID-19 antigen kits.

Some said they needed the tests in order to be cleared to return to work or school. Others wanted to test themselves to know whether they should go to holiday family gatherings.

Most were annoyed.

“I think it’s crazy that testing is as hard as it’s been to actually get done,” Jason Dewitt of Ulster County said Tuesday.

Major pharmacies have been struggling to keep the test kits in stock, according to recent news reports, and few local governments have kits to give away.

Here in Ulster County, though, leaders declared a state of emergency before the omicron threat was clear, in late November as the number of daily positive COVID-19 cases tripled.

The declaration allowed the county more swift access to important tools to control the spread, including rapid test kits.

To start, the county ordered 33,000 kits. Each kit has two tests that can be administered with a nasal swab and yield results in 15 minutes.

“Two years in, we have a lot more information and tools to make sure we can keep schools open safely, to keep our businesses and economy going,” County Executive Pat Ryan said in an interview Tuesday outside the county government building.

Ryan’s team sent the kits to schools, fire departments, town halls and nonprofits to distribute.

“We’re giving people a tangible tool that works and has been proven to have some more power, and to kind of control their destiny this holiday season,” Ryan added.

One group that received some of the kits is the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center in uptown Kingston.

Executive Director Peter Criswell said that by noon Tuesday, the center had given out about half of their 100 kits and expected the rest to go quickly.

“We’ve been getting phone calls and people have been showing up at our door asking for them,” Criswell said. “I feel frustration. I’m hoping that as a county, we can get more in and distribute more to as many people as needed.”

Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Joe Biden recently announced plans to send out millions of test kits in the coming weeks.

Ryan said a steady test kit supply will be crucial for when students return to class from their winter breaks. He estimated that on any one day, there are more than 400 students in the county who are being monitored and require testing.

He said the county just ordered another 20,000 kits in accordance with the county’s increased temporary powers under the emergency declaration, and will keep ordering more until a steady supply comes from state and federal governments.