Derek on 7.30 report, page-56

A couple of quotes from the Weekend OZ

A leading international supplier of Covid-19 tests has criticised Australia’s early reluctance to embrace rapid antigen tests, saying a hyper-vigilant approach by the country’s medical community has directly contributed to the nationwide shortage in testing supplies.

Roche Diagnostics managing director Allison Rossiter, who leads one of the country’s primary suppliers of RATs and PCRs, said Australia had been left badly exposed to testing shortages because of the medical community’s “conservative approach” to rapid antigen tests.

In an interview with The Australian, Ms Rossiter said Roche had secured more than three million RAT kits before the Christmas period “out of caution” and was in a strong supply position, but retailers had been too slow in ordering new stock, as Covid-19 case numbers began to surge across the country.

While Ms Rossiter said the uptake of RATs had been held back by misinformation about the accuracy and purpose of the tests, she maintained the Morrison government could not be held to blame for the lack of supply and urgency, claiming that dubious advice from health experts should bear a large part of responsibility.

“I don’t think it’s any secret that some organisations in the medical community like the Therapeutics Goods Administration and the Royal College of Pathologists (of Australasia) were reluctant to embrace RATs even though they had already been in use and effective overseas for something like 12 months.