West Australians hoping to buy rapid antigen tests (RATs) from their local pharmacies have been warned they will not be able to, due to a lack of supply.
Last week, Western Australia's Chief Health Officer, Andy Robertson, told reporters that rapid antigen tests would become legal from today, after the state government removed the ban it earlier imposed on them over accuracy concerns.
However, the Australian Pharmacy Guild's WA branch president Andrew Ngeow said pharmacies in the state had not secured any stock.
"At the moment, because of the ban, we haven't been able to get any into WA thus far," he said.
It is not clear if other outlets, such as supermarkets, will have any stock.
In response to questions about whether RATs would be sold in Woolworths stores from today, the supermarket said it was waiting for additional information from the West Australian government.
Coles released a similar statement.
"We plan to sell rapid antigen tests in WA, as we do in other states," the statement said.
"The WA Government is currently developing guidelines for the tests."
There has been a global shortage of the test kits.
Lack of guidelines 'frustrating'
Mr Ngeow said there was annoyance over a lack of guidance around using rapid antigen tests.
"The most frustrating thing, so far, is that while the ban is being lifted, we can source the stock, but we just need the guidelines around its usage and we're waiting on that," he said.
"We're calling for the Health Department to give us that as soon as possible, preferably now.
"What we'd like to be told is how [the tests are] going to be used, when [they are] going to be used, and what the patient should be doing [after] a positive or a negative test."
Mr Ngeow is expecting a surge in demand, such as that seen in the eastern states, but urged members of the public to be patient.
The state government's current RAT stockpile sits at 275,000 and is expected to grow to 5 million by February 5, and to more than 20 million by the end of March.
A state government spokesperson said PCR tests were still the only recognised way to test for COVID-19 testing in WA.
But rapid antigen tests would be used in the future.
"The Chief Health Officer is finalising guidelines for the use of RAT tests by Western Australians," the spokesperson said.
"However, for the time being Western Australians must have a PCR test if symptomatic or required to as a close or casual contact.
"Given Western Australia does not have a high caseload environment it is important we continue to use PCR tests."
RATs 'not helpful' at this stage: AMA
Both Mr Ngeow and the Australian Medical Association's WA president Mark Duncan-Smith advised against rushing to use rapid antigen tests.
Dr Duncan-Smith said that RATs should be used for screening and monitoring once COVID-19 was widespread in the community after the border opening on February 5, but stated they were not as accurate as PCR tests.
"In the current environment, where we have little or no community spread, [rapid antigen tests] are really not helpful at all," he said.
"If you get symptoms, what you should do is go to a testing centre and go and get a PCR test.
"The danger with a RAT, in our environment right now, is it's a high risk of a false negative and what that could mean is you actually have COVID, but the test is negative and therefore you're out in the community spreading the disease."
Dr Duncan-Smith encouraged people to get rapid antigen tests if there was stock available and they were priced reasonably, but said it could be a matter of months after the border opening before they would be useful.
With the vaccine rollout opening to children aged between 5 and 11 years of age today, Dr Duncan-Smith encouraged parents to book their children in for vaccines.
"The message, as far as the 5-to-11-year-olds [go], is that the vaccine is safe and effective," he said.
"It's been shown to reduce the incidence of long COVID and [more than] 8 million doses have been administered in America with no adverse effects."
One new local COVID case
Meanwhile, Western Australia recorded one new local case of COVID-19 over Saturday night, however, the person is in quarantine and has not been infectious in the community.
They were a close contact of two previous cases from the backpacker cluster, bringing the total number of cases in that outbreak to 22.
One new case relating to interstate travel was also recorded, with that person also in isolation.
Health authorities also confirmed all 27 close contacts linked to a Hyatt Hotel security guard and his household member who tested positive for the Omicron strain last week had returned negative COVID results.
No proof of vaccination for AFLW match
The government recently introduced proof of vaccination rules for a host of hospitality and entertainment venues, but gave an exemption to the West Coast and Fremantle Dockers AFLW match on Saturday.
More than 5,000 people attended the game.
Western Australia's Chief Health Officer, Andy Robertson, said the match did not pose any significant risk, unlike the recent Perth Cup racing event.
"From a public health perspective, based on WA's current COVID-19 situation, this low-risk event was not required to have proof of vaccination due to a number of factors," he said.
"This includes the fact it was a seated, ticketed, outdoor event and family-friendly, with lower alcohol consumption. Patrons were seated and facing in the same direction, with limited mixing of groups."
A government spokesperson said the requirement for proof of vaccination would become more prominent across WA as the state moved closer to easing its border controls.
