Pharmacies, shops most reliably stocking rapid antigen tests in NSW

While many rapid antigen tests have struggled with meeting demand, some have kept the highly sought-after tests in stock for days at a time. Find out where.

Nathan Schmidt

2 min read

January 31, 2022 - 5:57PM

The South Coast News

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Pharmacies and supermarkets across NSW are still struggling to fill the increasing demand for rapid antigen tests as overseas supply chains dry up, with some retailers having to shore up their stock with alternative suppliers.

Fluctuating stock levels and intermittent availability has hampered the efforts of many consumers to secure the highly sought-after test.

One inner-city Sydney pharmacy said that after a staggering influx of people seeking tests after the holiday period, it was forced to find an alternative to regular supply chains, which had baulked under the pressure.

Erskineville Compounding Pharmacy has maintained its supply of rapid antigen tests for more than six days, which a spokesman said was achieved by going to the distributor.

“Most pharmacies are ordered and served from their supplier whereas we outsourced and got it ourselves,” he said.

“We cut out the middleman and didn’t go through the supplier, we went directly to the distributor.”

The spokesman said the pharmacy had managed to maintain a constant supply as a result.

He noted that the number of people seeking testing has also dropped.

That might soon change with many parents preparing for school campuses to reopen this week.

In NSW’, a a military-like operation has taken place to get every student in public, Catholic and private schools, access to RATs from the first week of term one.

Students will undergo rapid antigen testing upon their return to school. Picture: David Swift

Scarce RATs have already been shipped to regional NSW from a secret warehouse in western Sydney as part of the major logistic exercise designed to get the 2022 school year off to a smooth start amid the threat of Omicron.

When the school term starts on February 1, every student will be required to return a negative rapid antigen tests every few days to be able to attend.

The program will be reviewed after a fortnight of operation, as experts warn there’s no point in a program that unnecessarily confuses parents.

So far, more than 80 per cent of the state’s schools now have a supply of rapid antigen tests.

For anyone else looking to secure a test, these are the retailers stocking RATs for more than four working days over the past week.