British Columbians turn to social media to find pharmacies with rapid tests

Just hours after Wilson Pharmacy in Port Coquitlam, B.C., got a new order of at-home rapid test kits, the shipment was already gone.

A post on the “BC School Rapid Test Swap & Shop” Facebook page had alerted followers to the available rapid tests, and members flocked to the small pharmacy to buy them. But supply was short, so despite a two-package limit per family, some left empty handed.

“It’s really frustrating from our side as well because we have been getting calls, and it’s something we don’t like to decline,” said pharmacy manager Raj Rakholiya. “It hurts us as well that we are not able to do enough for the community we are in.”

Rakholiya has been trying to source more rapid test kits, but they are hard to come by.

“It’s been very difficult. We have been trying to reach out to multiple suppliers on what the timeline looks like, when we can get them in greater numbers, but we haven’t been getting any proper answers from anywhere,” said Rakholiya.

People are turning to social media to look for rapid tests at pharmacies since they no longer qualify for COVID-19 testing at publicly funded sites.

“There is no other way to get this test kit,” said Rakholiya

The province is expecting 16.5 million rapid tests to arrive in the next few weeks, but they won’t be handed out at testing sites to symptomatic people like they were over the holidays. They are being used in targeted sites like health care, K-12 schools and post-secondary schools.

Rakholiya beleives the testing criteria should be expanded. “If somebody is very symptomatic, then the government should be able to accommodate all those people,” he said.

With no other option, people are turning to pharmacies instead. But most pharmacy managers can’t find the kits either. “We have been trying to get in touch with the suppliers, but they dont know themselves if they are going to get it,” said Rakholiya.

With his latest supply already sold out, he has no idea when he will be able to get more.