Rapid antigen tests could remain in short supply until March, an Australian distributor says, due to global demand and poor government planning
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At-home COVID-19 tests could remain in short supply until the end of March, according to the distributor of the only Australian-made rapid antigen test (RAT) currently approved for home use.
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Weeks after state and federal governments championed at-home testing as an alternative to Australia’s laboratory testing system, which struggled to keep up with record case numbers over the festive period, shoppers have cleared RAT supplies from supermarket and pharmacy shelves across the nation.
At the same time, hospitals, frontline services and private employers have turned to RATs as an easy and effective way to test staff before entering the workplace.
Suppliers will struggle to meet that short-term demand while base components like nasal swabs face global shortages, said Shida Kebriti, managing director of Sydney-based Eczanes Pharmaceuticals.
The company serves as the sole distributor for the InnoScreen RAT, the only locally-produced self-test greenlit by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for home use.
InnoScreen tests are currently sold out on the firm’s website. Kebriti said the firm will face difficulties meeting demand so long as there is “huge pressure” on the raw materials needed to compile the kits.
“With the nasal test, the swab that’s used for the nasal test, there is only a pool of that,” she said.
“And with everyone virtually pulling out of that and putting pressure on that supply chain, the raw material, there is only a certain amount that’s available.”
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The company is trying to “increase that capability and capacity day by day,” she added.
“That’s what we’re really focusing on, rather than worrying about it, but I think we are a bit limited now.”
While access to specific items like nasal swabs is likely to constrain domestic production, Kebriti said international competitors may face the same bottlenecks.
Other domestic manufacturers are yet to patch that hole, either. Brisbane-based Ellume produces some 100,000 kits per day, according to the Brisbane Times — but each one is destined for the international market, as the TGA is yet to approve its kits for domestic use.
Fears of lingering shortages cut against recent messaging from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who on Thursday declared the government will distribute some 200 million RATs to Australia’s six million concession card holders over the coming weeks.
Kebriti said much of the current tension between government and retail supplies could have been avoided if the federal government began stockpiling RATs when case numbers surged in the final months of 2021.
“They could have managed the hospitals, they could have managed that healthcare frontline workers, and any room left (for the) retail side,” she said.
“At the moment, the response is pressure from both sides. I see that as the number one problem.”
Eczanes Pharmaceuticals is one of several firms contracted to provide RATs to the Victorian Government for use in hospitals and testing sites, but Kebriti maintained Australia’s leaders “should have planned this a lot better”.
“We got the approval from TGA… and since then, it’s just been like a massive roller coaster,” she said.
Australia recorded nearly 50,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with RAT results now accounting for a significant portion of new testing figures.
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