Why rapid antigen tests aren’t more widely available in Manitoba

WINNIPEG -

Beginning next week, rapid antigen tests will be used more widely in Manitoba to screen unvaccinated public employees for COVID-19.

The tests are available to Manitoba businesses that have registered with the government and they're also available to travellers at a cost. However, people are questioning why the tests aren't easier to access.

Aleeza Gerstein went to visit her two best friends in Ottawa last week and the first thing on the to-do list was to rapid test themselves for COVID-19.

"My friend in Nova Scotia said, ‘I can get free rapid tests from Nova Scotia, so why don’t I bring them and we can all do them just as one more, sort of, layer of protection?" said Gerstein, who is a professor of microbiology and statistics at the University of Manitoba.

Since returning to Winnipeg, Gerstein said she's been thinking a lot about why rapid antigen tests aren't more widely available.

"No, we are not going to get everyone, but if we get even one person, one extra person a few days early that's great,” Gerstein said.

In Manitoba, rapid tests are not being given out.

SRX Pharmacy does rapid antigen tests through its specialty health clinic, but only for paying travellers who require it.

"I’ve had one person call to see if their kid could get the test but we direct them at that point to Public Health. This is for asymptomatic travellers,” said Steven Gregg, pharmacy manager at SRX pharmacy.

Epidemiologist Cynthia Carr said the primary utility for rapid tests is for screening.

She said on the high end, they're about 75 per cent effective at catching COVID-19 infections, noting this is why people using them as a part of a screening program are expected to test themselves two to three times a week."If you just got infected on Monday, by Wednesday you would probably have enough viral load that it could be detected or it would be more likely to be detected,” Carr said.

Another reason why rapid tests aren't available more widely, according to Carr, is supply.

"My understanding is we need to make sure that we have enough of those rapid tests to support (testing) whether its long-term care homes or businesses,” she said.

Starting next week in Manitoba, all designated unvaccinated front-line workers will need to undergo regular rapid testing, including teachers and health-care workers.

A provincial spokesperson told CTV News Winnipeg that the province had 750,000 rapid antigen tests as of August, and has secured another 500,000 for the end of October.

Gerstein said rapid testing is like a soldier heading to war wearing a helmet that doesn’t protect them from all hazards on the battlefield.

"But you wouldn’t not wear the helmet,” she said.

“So why aren’t we doing all the things that we know we could do to try and add one more layer of protection, one more thing we could utilize in this war against COVID?"