Rapid COVID tests may be harder to find at pharmacies this fall. Here’s what you need to know

Montreal pharmacist Aleck Brodeur just received a shipment of rapid COVID-19 tests. Since temperatures have dropped, more and more people want to buy them, he says.

“They’re going out so quickly. We have to order a few every day and we keep increasing the supply we order, but they’re all still going,” he said.

He expects this shipment – ​​thirteen kits in total – to be gone by the end of the day. In QuebecThere were 3,882 new laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 between September 15 and 21.

Unlike last fall, Brodeur is not distributing free rapid tests. The federal government stopped providing free COVID rapid tests to provinces and territories in May.

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Health Canada said it is no longer purchasing rapid tests en masse. The agency also says there are no plans to replenish the federal inventory after it is depleted.

That means pharmacies have been buying and selling the tests from vendors, just like any other over-the-counter merchandise. Pharmacists say supply is sometimes scarce.

“We hunt them down and make sure they’re approved by Health Canada,” said Kyro Maseh, a pharmacist in the Toronto area.

Artron Laboratories Inc., which produces COVID test kits, said in an email that it has increased test production in recent months and expects to ramp it up even further for the upcoming winter season.

Where can you get COVID tests?

You may have to visit several pharmacies before you can find one that does rapid testing, either free or for sale.

While some pharmacies in Quebec and Ontario have run out of free tests, the situation elsewhere is different. Public health in Alberta says they are still giving out free tests from the federal stockpile of participating pharmacies until supplies run out.

While pharmacies in Quebec may no longer have free rapid tests, they do in the province hand out free rapid testing at certain clinics or service centers.

PCR tests are also available in some provinces for people at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. It just takes a little longer for the results to arrive: at least 24 hours.

If you have expired tests, experts say most of them work a few months after the expiration date, but they also warn that false negatives pose a risk: If you test negative on an expired test but you’re still experiencing symptoms, it’s possible that you still have COVID – even if the expired test didn’t detect it.

“If it’s positive, you’re definitely positive. If it’s negative with symptoms, you should be concerned about using expired tests,” said Dr. Dawn Bowdish, professor of immunology at McMaster University and executive director of the Firestone Institute . for Respiratory Health, in Hamilton.

Should we even test for COVID?

If you are otherwise healthy and young, chances are that whether you test positive for COVID or have a cold, you are being given the same advice: don’t go to work or school, but stay home.

But for those more vulnerable to serious illness, an early positive test could change treatment options — and possibly health outcomes.

“Older adults and people with weakened immune systems who are at high risk for hospitalization should receive antiviral medications within a day or no more than two after becoming ill,” Bowdish said.

“If they don’t know they have COVID, they can’t get the medications that could keep them out of the hospital.”

Latest figures Select public health and hospital labs across Canada show COVID-19 levels remain stable nationwide, but Dr. Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist and medical microbiologist at McGill University Health Centre, thinks the numbers don’t reflect what’s really going on. going on in the community.

“What we know is that this is an underestimate of what is going on,” he said.

He has no doubt that widespread testing is still worthwhile. COVID, he says, can have serious consequences for vulnerable populations — and there are treatments available, too.

“Instead of saying: in four years’ time, will we still need tests for SARS-CoV-2? I would say that in fact we should have widespread availability of tests for pathogens that have a major impact at high temperatures. populations at risk and for which we can provide therapy,” Vinh said.

In the US, the federal government has done so reopened a program which allows each household to receive up to four free COVID test kits by post. U.S. public health authorities are urging the public to get a rapid test before visiting friends and family this holiday season.

Bowdish, the immunologist, says she would like to see something similar in Canada.

“People change their behavior and decisions when they know they have an infection that could cause an older adult or someone who is vulnerable to become seriously ill.”