The health industry is urging the commonwealth to secure rapid antigen testing kits as countries around the world scramble to lock down supply ahead of an explosion in new cases.
Woolworths told The Australian demand for the testing kits had grown rapidly “particularly in NSW”. “We have more stock on the way to our stores and expect availability to improve in the coming days,” a spokesman for the supermarket major said.
On Tuesday, its online store had sold out of stock. Coles, its rival, had few kits left despite a two-per-person purchase limit.
HealthyLife, a wellness retailer owned by Woolworths, said it had sold more than 100,000 rapid antigen tests since the start of November.
Martine Cooper, a general manager at HealthyLife, said demand for the test had more than doubled in the lead-up to Christmas “as customers prepare for festive functions and businesses prepare for employees returning to workplaces in the new year”.
HealthyLife is unable to ship the tests to South Australia and Western Australia where they are restricted and the results not recognised. The commonwealth currently subsidises the cost of the more widely available PCR tests, with pathology labs paid $85 for each – but results often take hours or days to arrive.
Scott Morrison earlier this week suggested the government was not amendable to subsidising the cost of rapid antigen tests.
( So, mandate that people need one to travel, but force them to pay for it 100% without any govt subsidy. Australians, please remember this next election. )
Many testing kits retail for $15-$30. However, Rapid Test & Track chief executive Alan Higgins said Australians could have access to the tests for “below $5” if the government intervened.
“We can offer it at a price point where it should be – for the price of a cup of coffee,” he said.
Mr Higgins said if Australia didn’t act now, other countries could lock up supply. “All these other governments, who are very much on the front foot, (will) lock up supply and we’re left with procuring something that’s not up to standard,” he said.
“Governments around the world are acting quickly to shore up supply. It’s important Australia isn’t left behind.”
In April, the British government began sending out twice-weekly rapid antigen tests. Now, households are able to order one pack of seven tests daily.
Atomo Diagnostics chief executive John Kelly said Australia was faced with an unfavourable situation, having failed to invest in the domestic production of rapid antigen tests in the last two years, while other countries moved to restrict supply.
Mr Kelly said global demand was “clearly outstripping capacity”, while tests manufactured in the US were being restricted to that market because of deals between companies and the Biden administration.
“A lot of the Australian importers are obviously struggling with the vagaries of the supply chain and the US market,” he said. “There’s very few being manufactured here and the Australian government hasn’t been supportive of bringing the manufacturing onshore.”
