More Quebecers are buying rapid tests to detect COVID-19, even though tens of thousands of them are becoming infected with the respiratory virus every day.
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“Demand has increased significantly in the last month,” notes Benoit Morin, president of the Quebec Association of Pharmacist Owners (AQPP).
Last Wednesday, the national director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau, at a press conference, said that 40 to 50,000 people are infected with COVID-19 every day in the province. And that a million Quebecers have been infected with a respiratory virus in recent weeks.
Although rapid tests are becoming increasingly popular, Morin reminds us that these tests are now only provided in pharmacies to immunocompromised or chronically ill people, social welfare recipients or young people and students.
Benoit Morin, President of the Quebec Association of Pharmacist Owners (AQPP) Photo courtesy
Rapid tests are available free of charge, especially in vaccination centers, but not in hospitals or CLSCs, as Le Journal noted in several facilities. Some regions, such as south-central Montreal, only have two distribution points, according to the government list.
Additionally, a vaccination center in Verdun in Montreal now has rapid tests at the entrance as more people wait there to receive them.
“There is no availability problem at the Quebec level,” explains Hugues Mousseau of the Quebec Association of Pharmacy Distributors.
In particular, for treatment with Paxlovid™, a positive rapid test is required upon the recommendation of a healthcare professional. This is a treatment in tablet form that aims to reduce the severity of symptoms in people who are at risk of serious complications.
“We will recommend that our customers at risk get tested,” emphasizes the pharmacist, who expects an increase in Paxlovid prescriptions in the coming weeks.
Do you test yourself before a party?
However, he does not believe it is necessary for all Quebecers to systematically stick a stick up their nose a few days before Christmas festivities to decide whether or not they can go to a loved one's house.
“If you have symptoms, stay at home, it doesn’t matter,” he advocates for the basic rule that must be followed.
What you need to know about rapid tests
Rapid tests are being distributed free of charge to all Quebecers at vaccination centers.
In pharmacies, these tests are reserved for:
- People being considered for treatment for COVID-19, such as: B. Paxlovid™;
- People who receive free medication as part of the statutory drug insurance (recipients of financial emergency assistance and people aged 65 and over with low income);
- young people aged 14 to 17;
- Full-time students aged 18 to 25.
Target group for PaxlovidMC:
- An adult (18 years and older) with severe immunosuppression;
- A person aged 60 or over who is at risk of suffering complications;
- An adult under 60 years of age with at least one concurrent illness or disease;
- A pregnant person who is at risk of complications;
- A person under 18 years of age with at least one concurrent illness or disease.
To benefit from this, these people must also:
- there are no contraindications;
- have been symptomatic for five days or less;
- have a confirmed COVID-19 infection through a screening test;
- not be hospitalized.
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