VIDEO – New Year’s Eve under Covid: rush on self-tests in pharmacies

In Marseille as everywhere in France, some people got up early to be the first to open pharmacies. The goal: to avoid the crowds of the day to take an antigen test. “I am a contact case but vaccinated twice and as I do not know if I am positive or not, if I should isolate myself or not, I came to have a test”, testifies a Marseillaise in the report of 13H of TF1 at the head of this article. “My daughter was to receive her second injection and she was in contact so we preferred to push back a bit. There we do a test and if she is negative, we vaccinate her”, says a father.

The pharmacist who performs these tests had to reorganize his team, which juggles between vaccinations and tests. Everyone knows that the pace will accelerate in the coming days as Christmas Eve approaches. “We will perhaps arrive at 70-80 tests a day. We assume because it is our role to do so but at the cost of fatigue for our staff and our colleagues”, he says.

Same thing in front of another Marseille pharmacy. Inside, customers line up for Christmas’s flagship product: self-tests. Many pharmacies are out of stock but this one was lucky. “Sunday we were able to have self-tests delivered by five and today, that’s all we have. I’m also expecting a delivery of self-tests by one.”, he shows in our report.

Sold between five and six euros each, these self-tests are not reimbursed. But whatever, customers need it. “Christmas is approaching and we have two contact cases at home”, says a mother. “I’m buying some for the family coming over for Christmas just in case. They’re vaccinated with two doses but they don’t have the third.”, continues another lady. Pharmacists make it clear: self-tests are as reliable as antigens performed in pharmacies.