Rapid antigen tests 'shouldn't be a luxury' for northern Ontario, Sudbury mom says

For Spenser McCall, trying to find a rapid COVID test in Sudbury felt like the Hunger Games.

A few days before Christmas, the new mom felt under the weather and wanted to take a test to determine if she was sick with COVID-19.

McCall has a three-month old infant and a two year old son, neither of whom can be vaccinated against the virus. Both she and her husband are double vaccinated and both received their booster shots recently.

On December 17th, three LCBO stores in the northeast received a stock of tests.

But McCall said she didn't even try to access the south-end LCBO location in Sudbury as they ran out of tests the day they arrived.

McCall purchased COVID tests kits online, using money out of her own pocket, but those are on back order until Jan 10.

Because she had symptoms, McCall made an appointment to be tested at the COVID-19 assessment centre in Sudbury. The results  — negative — come in the following day.

"I feel like we're stuck in this timeline where you have to measure which risks you're taking to see your family, how you're keeping them safe, what money you are willing to spend to access these safety items and of course realizing that those around you might not be able to access them," she said.

McCall called the COVID at-home tests luxury items.

"It shouldn't be a luxury item, it should be something available readily to the public."

Distribution of rapid antigen tests has not been equitable across the province, NDP's health critic France Gélinas said, adding that's putting more residents in northern Ontario at risk. 

The member of provincial parliament for Nickel Belt, said that recent announcements of pop-up clinics have not included locations outside of major urban centers, such as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Ottawa.

The schedule for the week of December 20 - 25 included just one location in the north, in Thunder Bay on Christmas Eve.

However that was cancelled when the tests didn't arrive.