The Minister of Health had explained last week that access to self-tests was going “be facilitated “ for the end of year celebrations.
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Supermarkets will be able to sell self-tests to detect Covid-19 for a month, according to an order from the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, dated Monday, December 28.
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Given the current context, with the explosion of contaminations with the Omicron and Delta variant, “It is necessary to diversify the supply and sales circuits of self-tests for antigenic detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on nasal swab”, can we read in the Official Journal. The CEO of the Leclerc group reacts on Facebook indicating that it is a “fair and useful decision” for the French. “Our teams will rise to the challenges, alongside community pharmacists”.
In its opinion of March 15, 2021, the Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS) considers that it is “possible to extrapolate the performances” from antigenic tests to that of self-tests. The analysis method is the same, it is the way of taking the sample that differs: during a self-test, the swab is introduced less deeply into the nostril. Also according to the HAS, an antigen test is at least 80% effective in detecting a positive person and 99% in detecting a negative person. In case of positivity, it will therefore be necessary to undergo a PCR test to confirm the result of the self-test and then isolate oneself while awaiting the result.