All I Want For Christmas Is Affordable And Readily Available Rapid Antigen Tests
It's the bungled vaccine rollout all over again.
Christmas is fast approaching, our social calendars are filling up, and just like clockwork another major COVID outbreak has hit Australia just in time to potentially wreak havoc on our festive plans.
So, with daily COVID case numbers breaking state records, why hasn’t Australia made at-home rapid antigen tests free yet?
Although state governments want to focus more on ICU admissions and deaths, rather than case numbers amid the recent Omicron outbreak, we should absolutely all be doing everything we can to avoid catching a potentially deadly virus.
Over the weekend, NSW Health recommended that you should “consider using a Rapid Antigen Test before going out, if you do not have symptoms”.
Please consider using a Rapid Antigen Test before going out, if you do not have symptoms.
Of the 2,566 cases reported to 8pm last night, 712 are from Hunter New England Local Health District (LHD), 446 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD, 303 are from South Western Sydney LHD,
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) December 19, 2021
This isn’t exactly bad advice and could potentially save hundreds — if not thousands — of people from going out in the community with COVID. But at $10+ per test, which are sold out pretty much everywhere, this isn’t exactly possible for everyone.
And that begs the question, why weren’t free and readily available rapid antigen tests part of Australia’s COVID arsenal?
Not only did it take months after the US approved self-administered tests for us to do the same, but even when we got them, they aren’t exactly affordable — and they’re in short supply.
If we take a look abroad, Singapore recently distributed free, at-home rapid antigen testing kits to every single household. This allowed residents to easily self-test, even without symptoms, thus taking the pressure off the medical system and reducing the amount of potentially positive residents out in the community.
You are eligible for 14 free rapid tests per person in the UK or can score a free rapid test as a business owner in Canada. Tests cost around $5 in Germany and $3.50 in India.
But instead of making rapid antigen tests free, or subsidising the cost through the PBS or similar, the federal government spent a whopping $9 million on the COVIDSafe app that has only identified two cases in the last six months.
So it’s not that Australia couldn’t afford to give us readily available and affordable rapid antigen tests, it’s that the government actively decided against it. And much like the bungled vaccine rollout that landed us in hot water in the first place, waiting too long before supplying an abundant and affordable (or free) supply of rapid antigen tests is a recipe for disaster.