Can I simultaneously declare and assign a variable in VBA?

Question

I'm new to VBA and want to know if I can convert the following declaration and assignment into one line:

Dim clientToTest As String
clientToTest = clientsToTest(i)

or

Dim clientString As Variant
clientString = Split(clientToTest)

Answer 1

You can sort-of do that with objects, as in the following.

Dim w As New Widget

But not with strings or variants.

Answer 2

There is no shorthand in VBA unfortunately, The closest you will get is a purely visual thing using the : continuation character if you want it on one line for readability;

Dim clientToTest As String:  clientToTest = clientsToTest(i)
Dim clientString As Variant: clientString = Split(clientToTest)