Coronavirus: Pharmacies scramble to meet rapid test demand

Private pharmacies on Monday said they will hire additional staff as people formed queues outside pharmacies and labs to get tested for the coronavirus after the health ministry scrapped its free rapid testing programme for the general population.

Local pharmacies said they were caught unprepared after the health ministry restricted access to free tests to specific population groups as from August 1 with staff scrambling to  assist the large number of people wishing to carry out a rapid test to obtain a SafePass.

Speaking to the media, the head of the Cyprus pharmaceutical association Eleni Piera said they were informed “at the last minute” and asked for understanding as efforts are being made to deal with the problems that arose and smooth out the process.

She said that arrangements are being made to hire additional staff from among people who used to work at the mobile units of the ministry.

Another issue pending is to connect all the pharmacies that carry out tests with the electronic platform of the health ministry to be able to issue the results from the rapid tests.

The president of the association said they had sent a letter to the health minister Michalis Hadjipantelas to arrange a meeting and discuss the problems.

Night pharmacies also carry out tests until midnight, Piera said, as they have been for the last four months.

However, many pharmacies are currently closed due to the summer holidays, she added.

Meanwhile, confusion persists as to which private pharmacies and labs can carry out rapid tests that will be accepted in line with the SafePass restrictions.

People can carry out a rapid test at all licensed pharmacies and clinical laboratories that are connected to the health ministry’s software, health officials had said over the weekend but without specifying which these are. Therefore, the only way for people to find out where they can get tested is to call the facilities.

The Supervisor for clinical laboratories, health ministry official Carolina Stylianou told the Cyprus Mail on Saturday that there about 400 pharmacies and 150 clinical labs across Cyprus and the majority of them have expressed interest in conducting Covid tests.

Every day more labs are expressing interest, Stylianou said, therefore there cannot be an official complete list of labs and pharmacies.

She reiterated that saliva rapid tests for coronavirus are still not accepted by the health ministry.

The maximum price for the tests starting Sunday was set by cabinet at €10 but some pharmacies and labs have been advertising their prices at between €5-€8.

For the purposes of travel, unvaccinated people who wish to issue an EU Digital Covid Certificate, must ask the specific pharmacy or laboratory if they are connected to the international online platform and are able to issue the certificate after the test.

Approximately 50 free mobile units continue to operate every day nationwide to offer coronavirus tests to specific groups of people.