Retailers prep for fall COVID test kit pressure

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This article was published 29/08/2022 (1139 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Demand for free rapid COVID-19 tests at grocery stores and pharmacies is expected to ramp up as summer comes to an end, and retailers are preparing to hand out kits by the handful for the provincial government.

John Graham, director of government relations for the Retail Council of Canada’s Prairies office, said most grocery stores in Manitoba currently have some stock available. However, a decline in demand over the summer could mean kits are few and far between.

“It’s possible that stores have run out and it’s just not being asked about right now,” Graham said. “You’ll see that change, and you’ll see everyone scrambling to try find the contact information for reordering the second week of September.”

In March, the Manitoba government partnered with grocery stores and pharmacies to distribute the free rapid test kits. Public libraries were later added to the distribution network.

Graham described the current system — which requires grocers to order COVID-19 tests from government if their stock runs low — as a “friction-less experience.” However, if customers do not ask for the tests regularly, the need to replenish inventory is “out of sight out of mind, to a degree.”

“It will, we anticipate or fear, increase in demand when you start to see back to school,” he said. “Grocers want to satisfy customer demand. If customers are starting to ask they’re going to reach out, get inventory a few days later.”

So far this month, retailers accounted for 46 per cent of restock orders. Manitoba currently has more than 14.5 million rapid tests on hand.

NDP health critic Uzoma Asagwara said unused kits sitting in a warehouse are not helping anyone.

“Families should be able to get COVID tests quickly and easily,” Asagwara said. “The province should be proactive in making sure Manitobans have access to tests.”

Some pharmacists, meanwhile, are continuing to hand out kits but the decision is often based on whether they have a retail counter in their business, Pharmacists Manitoba chief executive officer Tanjit Nagra said.

“If they’re in a grocery store or what have you, you probably won’t find them at the pharmacy. You’ll find them at the customer service or cashier counters, and that really has to do with regulation,” Nagra said.

Pharmacists are required to provide consultation for clients with questions if rapid antigen tests are handed out at the pharmacy counter, Nagra said, and the province and the association could not come to an agreement on compensation.

“It’s really too bad, because I think we really could have had tests even more readily available, especially in smaller communities,” Nagra said. “For some, they need to ask a few more questions and that’s fine, but it just came down to a matter of regulation, liability, (and) time of the pharmacist.”

The advocacy association has also asked the provincial government to reimburse members who bought rapid COVID-19 tests to sell and administer to the public at the time when a negative test result was required to participate in sports and other activities under public health orders.

Now that the market is flooded with free tests, Nagra said some pharmacists have chosen to give left over kits away for free. Costs absorbed by pharmacists is estimated to be $177,214 for slightly more than 16,500 tests.

“This has really dragged out for some time now and we’d really like to see our Treasury Board submission be approved and get some reimbursement for pharmacies,” Nagra said. “Respectfully, it’s a drop in the bucket for government.”

On Aug. 25, Health Minister Audrey Gordon said the province was still considering the request.

According to the province, masks and rapid antigen tests will also be available to schools at no cost through already established ordering processes.

At this time, the Manitoba government has no plans to distribute masks to the general public in anticipation of the fall and return to school.

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca