Desperate not to let Omicron dampen end-of-year festivities, Australians are queueing for hours to get tested for COVID-19 and rushing out to purchase rapid antigen tests (RATs).
With major retailers including Woolworths and Chemist Warehouse sold out of the at-home COVID-19 tests online, many people are struggling to get their hands on the product.
But others can’t afford to buy them at all, with the single-use tests costing around $15 each.
Experts and health professionals say the government should follow the United Kingdom's lead and subsidise RATs - particularly for vulnerable communities.
Peita Pittella is the practice manager at Utopia Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health in Melbourne.
The clinic employs bicultural staff and sees patients with and without a Medicare card, providing vital services including COVID-19 vaccinations and testing.
The spread of the Omicron variant is a major concern for many of the clinic’s patients, many of whom work in front-facing jobs, speak limited English and may live in cramped conditions with large families.
Peita Pittella, practice manager at Utopia Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health. Source: Supplied
Ms Pittella said many of Utopia's clients can’t visit drive-through testing sites as they don’t own a car and instead have to catch public transport to get tested at the clinic.
In desperate situations, Utopia staff will travel to patients' homes to administer COVID-19 tests.
“Last week we tested an intellectually disabled adult and there is no way he could have gone through a testing drive-through,” Ms Pittella said.
When it comes to rapid antigen tests, Utopia clients would likely be unable to afford them or know how to use them, she said.
“I can tell you that unless they speak English, they won’t get them, they don’t know what they look like and won’t know what to ask for.
In desperate situations, staff at Utopia Refugee and Asylum Seeker Health will travel to patients' homes to administer COVID-19 tests. Source: Utopia
“Our clients are not using them unless they come here and we give it to them, but we have to pay for them.”
Ms Pittella said the government should provide clearer information on when and how to use RATs.
“The instructions are not in other languages. For some people it might be self-explanatory but [for others], they don't know what to do with it," she said.
“A lot of our clients don’t read, even in their own language. Maybe the government could make some pictorials or give the tests out to GPs and then we can give them out like we did with masks.”
UNSW epidemiologist Marylouise McLaws said providing subsidised rapid antigen tests to the public would come at a minuscule cost for the government in comparison to PCR tests.
Rapid antigen tests can be bought at supermarkets and chemists. Source: AAP
Rapid antigen tests need to be fully funded by the government “because they are a really important public health mission”, Professor McLaws told SBS News.
“With rapid antigen testing, you want it to be accessible to everyone regardless of what their income is."
Since 1 November, Australians have been able to test themselves at home for COVID-19 with RATs that deliver results much faster than PCR tests.
Despite the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approving their use, RATs are currently banned in Western Australia and South Australia - something Professor McLaws believes needs to be overturned.
“Nothing is perfect. What you do is you add [these measures] together to try to reduce obvious risks. And these tests are good for that,” she said.
Epidemiologist Marylouise McLaws (centre). Source: AAP
"Every rapid antigen test that's been approved in Australia by the TGA has fantastic levels of accuracy for identifying that you are truly negative."
Professor McLaws emphasised that RATs are not intended to replace the PCR test.
“Rapid antigen tests are not used when you have symptoms… They are used as a screening test to say ‘yes, you're still negative, you're fine, you can go to work, we can go socialising’.”
The UK and Singapore governments offer free antigen tests, as do some EU governments.
Professor McLaws said if the federal government wants Australians to ‘live with the virus’ and isn't willing to enforce lockdowns, they're going to have to ramp up testing.
“Singapore has been providing free [COVID-19 home testing] kits and this is exactly what we need to do in Australia because the government has let the cat out of the bag now by not requiring people to wear masks when the numbers started ticking.”
Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Melbourne's Deakin University, said subsidising rapid antigen tests could help remove pressure from test sites that are currently overwhelmed.
NSW opened up to the unvaccinated this week just as COVID-19 cases started to spike. Source: AAP
Professor Bennett said there is “an economic divide” between people who are getting PCR tests to go on holidays versus those who are trying to manage their infection risk.
“Part of the problem for us is that we now have our test sites in many states overloaded because of the travel requirements, based on PCR,” she said.
“That might be pushing people who have symptoms that are more at risk of having a virus out of those queues for PCR testing, creating a bigger risk of community transmission."
Professor Bennett said that it’s now taking up to three days for some people to get results for PCR tests due to surges in people presenting to COVID-19 clinics.
“I think we have to get the balance right,” she said.
“We should be protecting our PCR for the most important health needs in terms of assessing people's risk.”
SBS News has contacted the federal Minister for Health, WA Health and SA Health for comment.
