COVID rapid tests may be trickier to find at pharmacies this fall. Here's what you need to know
CBC
Montreal pharmacist Aleck Brodeur just got a shipment of COVID-19 rapid tests. Ever since the temperature has been dropping, more people have wanted to buy them, he says.
"They go out so fast. We always have to order some every day, and we keep increasing the supply that we order, but they're still all going," he said.
He expects this shipment — 13 kits in total — to be gone by the end of the day. In Quebec, there were 3,882 new laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 between Sept. 15 and Sept. 21.
Unlike last fall, Brodeur doesn't have free rapid tests to hand out. The federal government stopped providing free COVID rapid tests to provinces and territories in May.
In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Health Canada said it is no longer procuring rapid tests en-masse. The agency also says there are no plans to replenish the federal inventory after it is depleted.
That means pharmacies have been purchasing the tests from suppliers and selling them, like any other over-the-counter merchandise. Pharmacists say the supply is sometimes thin.
"We kind of hunt them down and make sure they're Health Canada approved," said Kyro Maseh, a Toronto-area pharmacist.
Artron Laboratories Inc., which manufactures COVID test kits, said in an email it has increased test production in the past few months, and is expecting to ramp it up even more for the upcoming winter season.
You might need to visit several pharmacies before you're able to find one that carries rapid tests — free or for sale.
While some pharmacies in Quebec and Ontario have run out of free tests, the situation is different elsewhere. Alberta public health says they're still handing out free tests from the federal stockpile at participating pharmacies until the supply runs out.
While Quebec pharmacies may not have any more free rapid tests, the province is handing out free rapid tests at certain clinics or service centres.
PCR testing is also available in some provinces for those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. The results just take a bit longer to come in: at least 24 hours.
If you have expired tests, experts say most work for a few months after the expiry date, but they also warn false negatives are a risk: if you test negative on an expired test, but you're still experiencing symptoms, it's possible you may still have COVID — even if the expired test didn't detect it.
"If it's positive, you're definitely positive. If it's negative with symptoms, that's when you need to worry about using expired tests," said Dr. Dawn Bowdish, a professor of immunology at McMaster University and the executive director at the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, in Hamilton.
This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
Lac La Ronge Indian Band's Woodland Wellness Centre has received funding to start a mobile addictions outreach program to address the opioid and mental health crisis.
Adriana Avelina Ruíz Márquez uses fake eyelash glue to attach a tiny transmitter to the thorax, just behind the head, of the monarch butterfly.
After several delays to the mission that will take four astronauts around the moon, NASA held a press conference today announcing that Artemis II is on track to launch as early as April 1.
Snuneymuxw First Nation is calling for a temporary closure and environmental investigation of a hazardous waste services company following a January oil spill on Duke Point near Nanaimo, B.C.
In February, five people were killed in separate avalanches across B.C. and Alberta. That same month, more than a dozen people were killed in California and Utah, including a particularly deadly avalanche that claimed the lives of nine. In Europe, from Andorra to Slovakia, the season has recorded 125 deaths from avalanches so far.
Getting a proper vehicle to transport people for urgent medical care is an ongoing challenge in fly-in First Nations in northwestern Ontario.
A new supergroup of musicians from Six Nations of the Grand River and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation have collaborated on a Robbie Robertson-inspired song they will perform at the Junos Honouring Ceremony later this month in Hamilton.
People as young as 45 should be invited to provincial and territorial programs to screen for colorectal cancer, the Canadian Cancer Society urged on Wednesday.
The Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) has opened an office and retail space in Ottawa to create a stronger presence in the capital since removing itself from the Métis National Council in 2024.
Toronto resident Winhan Wong's lung cancer journey began in 2016, with a nagging cough that just wouldn't go away.
Last month, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak pointed out on social media that history was made this year because there are a record 164 female chiefs serving across the country.
Most of humanity has a great propensity to think in the short-term, but generally, long-term considerations — air pollution, deforestation and emissions, for example — just aren't our thing.