Will the government make self-tests free for those vaccinated?

• While a Health Defense Council is being held this Friday, the executive could at its end announce the free self-tests for people vaccinated.

• Faced with the rush for screening tests and a few days before the end of the year holidays, the measure would make it possible to contain the fifth epidemic wave which is currently hitting France.

• 20 Minutes

  explains how this measure, if applied, could be deployed.

Test yourself before you meet again.

With contaminations exceeding the 60,000 case mark for the third day in a row, the executive brings together a Defense Health Council this Friday, and is considering new measures to try to contain the fifth wave of coronavirus which continues to surge .

While the school holidays are starting and millions of families will gather for the holidays, the government wants, like last year, to push the French to be screened before these moments of conviviality where the barrier gestures could be a little forgotten. .

And to encourage them, he plans to make self-tests free for people who have been vaccinated.

A measure that could be announced at the end of the Health Defense Council.

Why launch free self-tests now and under what conditions would they be delivered?

The objective of this measure, "is to find a logistical solution to the explosion in demand for screening, which is such that laboratories and pharmacies can no longer respond to them on their own, answers Pierre-Olivier Variot," President of the Union of Community Pharmacists Unions (USPO).

At one week before Christmas, it's impossible to test everyone in one or two days ”.

And the rush for testing has already started: more than 5.8 million were made last week, a record high exceeding the peak in August, according to figures from the Ministry of Health.

In detail, the planned free "does not mean" open bar ", insists the pharmacist. It is not about giving away as many tests for free as a person could ask for. The rule is that any vaccinated person wishing to be screened prefers the antigen test or PCR. But in the event that the pharmacy is not able to carry out the antigen test because it is overwhelmed, then we offer two self-tests free of charge to the vaccinated patient, non-symptomatic and non-contact, to be carried out at home ”.

Why give two self-tests?

"By repeating the self-test once or twice a week, we increase the chances of performing it at the start of the disease, that is to say when the virus is most present and most easily detectable, and above all when we are most contagious, ”explains Health Insurance.

And a few days before New Years Eve, "the most useful gesture is, for all participants, and in particular the less fragile, the youngest and the most socially active, to get tested, either by a self-test on the same day, or by an antigen test ”, insists the Scientific Council in its latest opinion.

How does the self-collection take place?

In accordance with a decree published in

on April 11, self-tests are available over the counter only in pharmacies and at the maximum price of 5.20 euros, and their online sale is prohibited. "There must be a health professional who can sell these tests, explain how they work," said the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, on April 3, recalling that it is "a health product ”. They are available without a prescription and will remain chargeable for unvaccinated people.

Once your kit is in hand, on the instructions side, as its name suggests, the self-test is an antigen test that you perform yourself, using a swab to take the nasal sample, as for a PCR test carried out in the laboratory or an antigen test taken in a pharmacy. And if you are of a cozy and fearful nature in front of the swab (we are the same, we do not judge), rest assured, "this self-sampling mode requires you to introduce the swab less deeply than the nasopharyngeal swab. performed for RT-PCR and classic antigenic tests, ”explains Health Insurance. "For some tests, the removal of a second nostril is necessary", adds the Ministry of Health.

No need to wait long hours for a return from the laboratory as after a PCR test, with the self-test, "the result is given after 15 to 20 minutes," says Health Insurance.

How reliable is this device and what to do in the event of a positive result?

Well that depends on you!

"To increase the reliability of the test, you must strictly follow the user guide provided during the purchase," advises Health Insurance.

However, “the self-tests are less sensitive than the RT-PCR and antigen tests”, but the risk of a false positive is low, less than 1%.

If the result is positive, "the self-test is not enough", indicates Pierre-Olivier Variot.

In this case, "it is necessary without delay to carry out a PCR test which will confirm or not the result, to isolate oneself immediately and to warn the people with whom one has recently been in contact in the absence of barrier gestures so that they are 'isolate', prescribed the health insurance.

This test will be "supported by the health insurance services on presentation of the Vitale card", completes the Ministry of Health, whether or not one is vaccinated.

Health

Coronavirus LIVE: Switzerland tightens health measures and reintroduces compulsory telework ...

Health

Coronavirus: Contaminated by Omicron in South Africa, she is isolated in a hotel near Roissy

• Screening

• epidemic

• Health

• Covid 19

• Coronavirus

• Anti-covid vaccine

• 0 comment

• 0 share

  • Share on Messenger

  • Share on Facebook

  • Share on twitter

  • Share on Flipboard

  • Share on Pinterest

  • Share on Linkedin

  • Send by Mail

• To safeguard

• A fault ?

• To print