Pharmacies will receive nearly 3 million rapid COVID-19 tests next week. Long-awaited articles, as evidenced by the monster queues of Quebecers wanting to get their hands on a kit, in recent weeks.
“Tuesday morning, we’ll be ready,” says Benoit Morin, president of the Quebec Association of Owner Pharmacists. Nearly 3 million BTNX-type self-tests – distributed in boxes of five – will be available in pharmacies across the province, says Hugues Mousseau, general manager of the Quebec Association of Pharmacy Distributors. Very encouraging news, according to him.
The start of distribution will be “difficult, because the demand for rapid tests is still strong,” said Benoit Morin. Especially since certain kits have already been reserved, in particular by vulnerable people unable to go to the pharmacy.
Another problem: last Wednesday, the 3 million rapid tests ordered directly by Quebec on the international market did not arrive safely. The delivery “was canceled by the supplier”, specifies Marjorie Larouche, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS).
The international demand for rapid tests is very high and it is difficult to make deals.
Marjorie Larouche, spokesperson for the MSSS, in an exchange of emails with Press
In January, Quebec will obtain 31.5 million of the 140 million rapid screening tests distributed by Ottawa. Benoit Morin is hopeful that these tests promised in the coming weeks by Ottawa will arrive in pharmacies. “The federal government already has signed agreements with suppliers,” he argues. But when we talk about agreements in such a voracious international market and everyone wants tests at the same time, I have doubts until the plane has arrived. ”
The race for rapid tests
In December, nearly 4.5 million rapid tests were distributed to pharmacies in Quebec, which were inundated with requests. The need for self-tests will be felt in the coming days, as PCR testing is now restricted to certain groups, including healthcare workers, the hospitalized and the homeless.
Pharmacies have received numerous requests for rapid tests in recent weeks, says Morin. “It creates frustration because people are symptomatic and anxious, so they want to check,” he says. But the high demand is temporary and must be relieved by the millions of tests scheduled to arrive in January.
This is good news, because people are eventually going to have the rapid tests at home before they need them. It is the purpose and the usefulness of these tests, to have them before being symptomatic to know if one should isolate oneself or not.
Benoit Morin, President of the Quebec Association of Owner Pharmacists
Benoit Morin compares the shortage of rapid tests to that of face covers and vaccines at the start of the pandemic, when the demand was very high relative to the quantity available. The arrivals of the next few weeks should reduce the pressure on pharmacies, not to mention that after receiving a box, it is necessary to wait 30 days before getting a new one for the same person.
Return to the dreaded daycare
Anick Laporte, an essential worker, fears the return to daycare of her 3-year-old boy next Monday. If her young son is showing symptoms, she should get him tested before taking him there.
But before the holidays, she says she only received a kit of five rapid tests from her 7-year-old son’s school, and none from daycare. “The daycare environment [a] already been supplied ”, nevertheless affirms Maude Jutras, of the communications service of the CISSS of Lanaudière.
Anick Laporte fears that the five tests are not enough. “My 3-year-old has a cold all the time,” says the essential worker. A small cold is equivalent to a test. ”
With the collaboration of Mylène Crête, Press
Saskatchewan drowns in rapid tests
In Saskatchewan, a province of about 1.2 million people, you only need to walk into a library, a fire station or certain grocery stores to get a box containing five tests. The provincial government said this week it has distributed more than 12 million tests to around 600 locations. Some 3.7 million of these have been sent to communities through public distribution networks, such as libraries, since November. As of December 17, federal figures showed Manitoba had received approximately 3.2 million tests. Saskatchewan had received more than 10.6 million tests, many more than its neighbors. Saskatchewan officials said they were getting more because they asked for more.
The Canadian Press