Alberta premier says rapid test 'nationalism' complicating procurement
Alberta's premier says rapid test nationalism is contributing to procurement difficulties, as the Omicron-fuelled fifth wave is increasing higher demand for testing.
Jason Kenney made the comments Thursday at a COVID-19 update, saying it would "unfortunately" be "awhile" before the province received enough tests to make them available to Albertans for free on a large scale.
"The reality is that we are facing a massive global shortage in these rapid antigen test kits," Kenney said.
The premier said the province has distributed 15.3 million tests to date, with test kits containing five tests. While the "vast majority" of students and staff received two test kits within the first few weeks of classes resuming following the holiday break, Kenney says many are still waiting.
Kenney said the province expects to receive eight million tests it procured this and next week, on top of another million promised by Ottawa. Those tests are slated to be distributed to high-priority populations, including children and staff at K-12 schools, people working in long-term care facilities, and First Nations.
"We became impatient with delays from the federal government's promised deliveries of rapid antigen tests," Kenney said. "So we went to market in mid-December to procure 10 million rapid tests directly.
"Unfortunately we were running into the same global supply constraints and just general problems with supply chains around the world."
'VERY COMPETITIVE MARKET'
Due to soaring case counts during the fifth wave, Alberta and many other provinces in Canada reduced the number of people eligible to receive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests due to limited lab capacities.
Last week, Filomena Tassi, Canada's procurement and public services minister, said at a press conference that rapid antigen tests have become harder to get.
"Up until the beginning of January, we had procured and delivered every test that provinces and territories were asking for. Of course, with the onset of Omicron in December, those requests escalated," Tassi told reporters.
"This is a very competitive market, and there are issues with respect to the supply chain. And those deal with issues of labour, issues of accessing raw materials, and also the cargo planes and getting the transportation."
She promised Canada was doing everything it could to procure more tests. To date, the federal government has obtained an estimated 426 million rapid antigen tests.
'GET MORE TESTS APPROVED': KENNEY TO HEALTH CANADA
Kenney said more countries are engaging in protectionist behaviour toward rapid test procurement, mirroring vaccine procurement challenges after they first became available.
"We talked a year ago about vaccine nationalism," the premier said. "We are starting to see that same type of protectionism or nationalism when it comes to these rapid tests.
"I'm told by our department of health that one major U.S. provider with whom we signed a contract had the U.S. federal government come to them about 10 days ago and ordered a billion tests and basically used force majeure to say that we take precedent over all international orders," Kenney said.
"I think this underscores, once again, the need for us here in Canada to onshore production (and) development of vaccines, of therapeutics, and equipment like tests of this nature," he added.
"It also underscores what I've been speaking about since April last year: the need for Health Canada to accelerate the approval of additional rapid tests."
Alberta's premier said the European Union has more than 100 rapid test products approved for use and claimed Health Canada only had six.
"So we are much more vulnerable to these supply constraints as a result," Kenney said.
"We urge Health Canada to get with the program to use emergency use authorization protocols to approve these tests," he added. "These are tests after all. They are not medical interventions.
"Let's get these more tests approved so we can get them in the hands of people."
According to Health Canada's website, 21 COVID-19 point of care antigen rapid tests are being reviewed. Twenty-five point of care tests have been approved for use in Canada by the agency.
"Only testing devices authorized by Health Canada can be imported or sold in Canada. Unauthorized tests may not produce accurate results, leading to potential misdiagnosis," the health agency says.
"Health Canada confirms that authorized COVID-19 tests are well supported by evidence, indicating they will provide accurate and reliable results."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Parliamentary report on Emergencies Act decision is 18 months past due — and counting
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.