The PHAC said Ottawa will reassess the delivery of rapid tests to provinces
Key Takeaways:
- COVID-19 rapid tests will be sent to provinces and territories through the end of the year, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
- The federal government has been offering free rapid testing kits to provinces and territories from October 2020.
- As of May 18, the PHAC reported that provinces and territories had received over 369 million rapid tests this year.
The Public Health Agency of Canada states that it will continue to distribute COVID-19 fast tests to provinces and territories through the end of the year. It will reassess the situation and preserve a "strategic reserve" for the future.
"As we go forward with our COVID-19 response, we will continue to provide fast tests to provinces and territories until at least December 2022," PHAC said in an emailed statement to CTV News.
After monitoring the changes in the transmission of COVID-19, the plan will be re-evaluated by the end of the year, with the likelihood that rapid test distribution will continue, according to PHAC.
According to the agency, the federal government will have a strategic reserve of 100 million fast tests "as part of the overarching national preparedness policy," with a half set up for provinces and territories and the other half for general surge requirements.
Since October 2020, the federal govt has been providing free quick testing kits to provinces and territories. However, governments have selected a variety of techniques for implementing rapid antigen tests around the country.
Because of the highly transmittable Omicron form and also the fact that fewer people are now qualified for PCR testing, at-home rapid antigen tests have become a vital tool in the latter few months of the epidemic.
According to PHAC, until July 29, the Government of Canada will accept requests for quick tests for direct distribution to organizations with 200 or more employees.
Orders can be sent to pharmacy partners until Sept. 30 for distribution to small and medium-sized companies.
According to an April Statistics Canada survey, nearly two-thirds of Canadians said they had difficulty obtaining a COVID-19 rapid test, indicating that the federal government's general deployment of COVID-19 rapid testing failed.
According to the PHAC, more than 369 million quick tests had been given to provinces and territories this year as of May 18.