Millions of Covid rapid tests set to arrive at Amcal pharmacies from next week

Weekly deliveries of Covid-19 rapid tests will soar from tens of thousands to millions from next week, Australia’s biggest pharmaceutical distributor says.

People queuing for Covid-19 rapid tests at an Amcal store in Highton, Victoria.

Rapid antigen tests are expected to remain scarce until February when Australia’s biggest pharmacy distributor, Sigma Healthcare, expects a “real jump” in supply.

Sigma is currently delivering tens of thousands of rapid antigen tests (RATs) — which can detect Covid-19 within 20 minutes — to its Amcal stores each week. From next Monday, it will increase weekly deliveries to several million before distributing tens of millions of tests to pharmacies by mid February.

It comes as demand for rapid tests have soared as the highly infectious, but less severe, Omicron variant infects more than 100,000 Australians each day — leading to some retailers charging up to $500 a test, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Wholesale prices range from $3.95 to $11.45 a test, prompting the competition watchdog to crackdown on price gouging.

While peak supply is expected to coincide with the Omicron wave subsiding, demand for RATs is expected to remain high, particularly as businesses continue to test workers ahead of a full reopening of offices from late February.

“Sigma is progressively accessing supply of RATs to distribute to its pharmacy customers, and expects supply to accelerate over the coming weeks to help meet public demand for tests,” a company spokesman said.

“While Sigma expects supply to increase from next week, the real jump in RATs supply will come in early February.”

Coles chief executive Steven Cain warned last week that it will take weeks to satisfy demand for rapid tests, despite the supermarket chain already delivering millions of tests each week to its stores.

The powerful Pharmacy Guild lobbied against the government covering the full cost of rapid antigen tests, to prevent pharmacies from being “over-run”. This is despite calls from food distributors and business groups to make the tests more freely available to combat a supply chain crunch and ensure that only Covid-infected people are in isolation.

Trent Twomey, president of the powerful Pharmacy Guild, said the supply of rapid tests had been “huge logistic challenge” and “at short notice”.

“Pharmacists are moving heaven and earth to source and stock adequate supplies of RATs,” Professor Twomey said.

“If stocks are not immediately available, we ask customers to be patient but to be assured we are doing all we can to match supply to the demand.”

Some pharmacists have been using social media to let their customers know when RATs arrive in store. One Amcal pharmacy in regional Victoria managed to source more than 1300 tests over the weekend, leading to a queue stretching more than 100 metres out its door when it notified customers of its “good news”.

The health regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, approved the sale of self rapid tests late last year — more than 12 months after rapid test suppliers called for their widespread adoption.

Regulatory hurdles continue to limit supply, with ASX-listed diagnostics provider Atomo, saying it has the capacity to import 10 million rapid tests to Australia. But the company is still awaiting approval from Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Similar to the Morrison government’s vaccine swap deals with Poland, the UK and Singapore to secure an extra five million doses of the Pfizer jab and accelerate the nation’s Covid-19 immunisation program last year, it is now scrambling to secure the national supply of RATs. The federal Department of Health quietly published five RAT tenders worth almost $62m on the AusTender website last week.

In the meantime, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims has put retailers on notice about price gouging. Mr Sims has set up a team to investigate RAT pricing after receiving scores of complaints.

“At the extreme end, we have received reports or seen media coverage of tests costing up to $500 for two tests through online marketplaces, and over $70 per test through convenience stores, service stations and independent supermarkets, which is clearly outrageous,” Mr Sims said on Monday.

“There are several businesses that have repeatedly come to our notice thanks to the information provided by the public. We are asking those businesses to urgently explain the prices they are charging.”