Rapid antigen test supplies are steadying around town, but knowing which type to buy, where to buy them, and what a fair cost looks like is tricky.
Pharmacies and retailers around Logan believe we have a more dependable supply than before Christmas, but it will take some time before we see reliable weekly stream of orders arriving.
The selection and costs of RATs are dictated by the ebbs and flows of supply lines.
The trick is to call around, get in early, and compare prices.
MyCityLogan found the costs of tests from six outlets around town to guide you through the process:
| Outlet | Cost |
| Woolworths | Singles $20 / Doubles $30 |
| Coles | Doubles $30 / Five-packs $50
*All Coles stores are experiencing a national shortage |
| Chempro, Loganholme Village | Singles $15-20 / Five-packs $70-80 |
| Chemist Warehouse | Doubles $20 / Five-packs $49.99 |
| Cleaning Products Australia, Slacks Creek | Five-packs $77.50 |
| Logan City Pharmacy | Singles $16 / Doubles $30 / five-packs $65 |
In the last fortnight, costs have fluctuated from $15 to $20 for single nasal tests or $70-$80 for packs of five in pharmacies, with the exception being Chemist Warehouse that had the most competitive of the prices.
Concession and pension card holders are entitled to an allocation of free tests from participating pharmacies.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia has listed 26 participating pharmacies in Logan.
Free ones are also available at Logan Hospital, Sullivan Nicolaides Beenleigh, and Logan West Community Centre for people with symptoms.
For everyone else, cost depends on the stock, availability and brand.
Under new laws, sellers can be done for price gouging if a test is sold for 120% more than the purchase price, which usually sits somewhere between $3.95 and $11.45 per test.
That carries penalties of five years’ imprisonment, a $66,000 fine, or both.
Major supermarkets are getting stock, however, Coles stores are currently experiencing a nationwide shortage.
Woolworths at Cornubia sold a limited stock of singles for $20 and doubles for $30 last week, while pharmacies had singles for $15 and packs of five for no more than $80.
One way to get ahead of the game is to keep websites like Find A RAT on standby to check availability.
Chempro at Loganholme Village updates Find A RAT and social media sites regularly with supply information.
“Because there’s so many different brands coming through, the cost depends what the wholesalers charge,” one Chempro pharmacist said.
“We don’t know until which brand is coming in and the cost price.”
Two types of tests exist. One relies on a sample from the nasal cavity, while the other, a saliva sample.
UQ adjunct associate professor of pharmacy Geraldine Moses said it is hard to know which is best.
“The hard part at the moment is knowing which we should use because there is that suggestion that Omicron is more likely to hideaway in your throat rather than up your nose,” she said.
“But it’s harder to get the oral swabs.”
Ms Moses said to be wary of using the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s ratings for the test kits as a sign of whether they are worth buying.
“You’d think the TGA’s listing of brands and accuracy would be a good indication, but they’re the manufacturer’s own rating of their own accuracy, so they could have misleading information,” she said.
“For example, we got one brand that was rated ‘very high’ and had the wrong instructions.”
More than anything, she said it is important to look at all the indicators and and “not to put our blind faith” in RATs.
“You’ve got to be as wholistic as possible and look at everything and not just your RAT as an indication of accuracy for what’s going on,” Ms Moses said.
To find out where you can access free RATs as a concession or pension card holder, visit https://www.findapharmacy.com.au/home/rapid-antigen-tests
