COVID SELF-TESTING. In order to support the health protocol at school, Jean-Michel Blanquer announced that educational staff can obtain ten free self-tests per month. For the others, in particular for the parents of pupils, where to get supplies of self-tests? Where are they the cheapest?
New modality concerning self-tests, which are definitely at the heart of the changes in health protocols at the start of 2022. This Wednesday, January 26, the Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer, indicated on BFMTV/RMC that ten self-tests per month would now be covered by Social Security: they will therefore be delivered free of charge by pharmacies on presentation of an identity document and a nominative certificate provided by the employer. Educational staff will be able to collect the self-tests from February 1 and until March inclusive. One stopped published in the Official Journal on January 22 confirms this provision, indicating that are concerned “staff exercising their functions in educational establishments covered by Book IV of the second part of the Education Code as well as in accommodation services, reception and extracurricular activities associated with it”. In addition, the decree specifies that three self-tests will be given to students declared contact cases at school, college or high school, regardless of their vaccination status.
What about the others? With the many health protocols at school and the proliferation of the Omicron variant, self-tests have been taken by storm. In particular used to test children, in a context where the coronavirus circulates a lot at school, how to provide self-tests at a lower cost? If pharmacies and supermarkets are the two places where you can find self-tests for sale, pharmacies are the only ones able to provide self-tests free of charge as part of the Covid-19 screening measures. Apart from these cases, the self-tests remain chargeable and are displayed at different prices in each brand, on average the supermarkets charge more advantageous prices. In addition to the question of where to obtain self-tests, many wonder about how to carry out a self-test (especially in children), or even about the reliability of these screening methods. All the answers below.
Available in pharmacies since their commissioning in mid-April 2021, self-tests are usually exclusively sold in pharmacies. The game to change on the occasion of the proliferation of the Omicron variant and the end-of-year celebrations for which many French people wanted to be tested before family reunions, since the end of December and until January 31, self-tests are in sales of supermarkets such as Carrefour or Leclerc.
No, even via the online pharmacy, self-tests are not yet available for purchase on the internet, as indicated by the Ministry of Health. If you want to acquire a self-test at the present time, you will have to leave your home to contact your pharmacist, its sale being prohibited to persons under 15 years of age.
For whom is the self-test free?
Since January 3, 2022, carrying out self-tests has been part of the screening protocol and therefore can be provided free of charge by pharmacies under two conditions:
- For people with a complete vaccination schedule and contact cases. After having carried out a negative PCR test, these people must undergo a self-test on D+2 and D+4 of the last contact with the patient. L’Health Insurance specifies on its site: “The result of the RT-PCR test or the antigenic test must be presented in order to be issued the recommended self-tests in pharmacies”.
- Children under 12 who are not vaccinated. Still in line with the health protocol and the measures put in place in schools, children must also carry out self-tests if they are in contact with one of their classmates and their PCR test is negative. “When the family does the first test, they will receive two free self-tests in the pharmacy, so that the students can test themselves again at home on D + 2 and D + 4” assured Jean-Michel Blanquer in the Parisian on this subject.
- Some trades can receive free self-tests in pharmacies on presentation of professional proof, this concerns in particular people who work with the elderly and people with disabilities.
Apart from minor contact cases under the age of 12 and vaccinated adults, self-tests are chargeable in pharmacies and supermarkets. In the first, the self-tests are sold at prices set by a decree published in the Official Journal on April 11, 2021. The Ministry of Solidarity and Health then indicated that the price “can not exceed, per test and all taxes included , 5.2 euro”. If this price is applied in pharmacies, supermarkets offer self-tests at much lower prices. Lelcerc sells self-tests at €1.24 each and between €5 and €6.20 for a box of five.
The answer is yes but not for everyone. Indeed, only employees of home services or private employers working with the elderly or disabled and family carers are reimbursed. To benefit from it, they must present an identity document, as well as proof of their professional status. For the rest of the population, reimbursement is not effective, the Ministry of Health explaining that PCR and antigenic tests in the laboratory, pharmacy etc… Are already covered.
Quite simple on paper, the self-test can therefore be carried out alone at home. To do this, you just have to go to the surface of the nose, and not to the bottom of the nasopharynx as for the antigen test, here are the steps:
- Push the swab vertically 2 to 3 cm
- Tilt the swab and insert it a little more until a slight resistance
- Perform a rotational movement without forcing and press down for a few seconds
- Wring the swab in the solution for 10 seconds
- Screw the dropper nipple onto the tube
- Pour four drops into the well of the cassette
- Wait 10 to 15 minutes
- If two colored bands appear at the C and T markers, then the test is positive
- If a band only appears in area C, the test is negative
- The test is invalid if no band appears in area C
- Finally, the kit items should be discarded in a plastic bag to avoid contamination. Close the bag and place it in a second plastic bag. Throw everything in your usual trash can. Wash hands after handling.
The Ministry of Health also explains that the self-test has an interest if it is carried out regularly (1 to 2 times a week). Be aware that when they give a kit, pharmacists are obliged to send you the user guide developed by the Ministry of Health.
For parents of students, carrying out self-tests on their children is or will become commonplace. The method for successfully swabbing a child’s nose is the same, only while sticking a cotton swab into one’s own nostril seems accessible to everyone, doing it for another individual may be more stressful. The Ministry of Solidarity and Health shared the guide to the use of the nasal self-test in children on its site, the document details all the steps to screen a child correctly. Rest assured, the manipulation does not represent any risk and does not cause any pain because the swab is not inserted too deeply.
- Wash and sanitize your hands as well as the child’s. Prepare a flat, clean and disinfected surface to deposit the material.
- Push the swab horizontally and gently into a nostril for 2 to 3 cm, without forcing and until you feel a slight resistance.
- Rotate the swab two or three times then hold the swab in place for five seconds.
The manipulations for the analysis and the reading of the results are always specified on the product instructions. In most cases, the method to follow is the one explained above. Be sure to read the manual that accompanies the self-test before you start. To detect the child correctly, reassure him, the person tested as well as the person carrying out the test must remain calm. Pharmacists advise showing and explaining to children all the movements that will be made to prepare them. Also prefer to perform the test when the child is seated, this position facilitates screening. Finally, health professionals recommend wearing a mask while carrying out the test to avoid any risk of contamination of the equipment.
Pharmacists point out that they are able to carry out self-tests, so people who do not feel able or are afraid to test their children themselves can go to a pharmacy. The professional can also show you how to perform the self-test.
According to the data analyzed by the High Authority for Health, these tests make it possible to detect the presence of Covid-19 in 80% of symptomatic people. On the other hand, the ratio would drop to around 44% in asymptomatic people.
The government has announced that the self-test will no longer be valid for the health pass since October 15. Until then, it was indeed possible to present a negative self-test to obtain the health pass, but this device had been “temporarily deployed during the summer, in order to support the extension of the use of the health pass” .
Know first of all that the High Authority for Health has requested a sensitivity of more than 80% in order to avoid false positives as much as possible (1% chance, also beware of false negatives). In the event of a positive test, you must imperatively make an appointment in order to carry out a PCR test to be counted in the “statistics”, to see if you are a carrier of a variant but also to allow contact tracing which is the real flaw of the self-tests. In case the PCR test confirms the positive result, you must isolate yourself.
What to do if you are negative with a self-test?
If only a colored band appears in the control zone (C), your test is negative. The main thing to do is above all not to relax the barrier gestures and maintain social distancing because the HAS warns of the possibility of having a false negative. Also remember that in case of symptoms, it is imperative to do a PCR test
Since April 26 and the return to face-to-face for primary schoolchildren, self-tests have become a new weapon for controlling the epidemic in schools. Concretely, “each staff working in establishments and schools” must receive “two free self-tests per week”, whether they work in school, college or high school. All high school students are also affected by the self-tests (see below), but not primary or middle school students. If the High Authority for Health now theoretically authorizes them for children under 15, the Scientific Council does not yet recommend them for children under 11.
In the Sunday newspaper of May 2, the Minister of Education notably answered the question “How will these screenings be organized?” : “It will be decided at the level of each establishment. We can imagine a fairly simple approach: We choose a dedicated place inside the school then, class by class, the students come to practice their self-test, during school time, under the supervision of medical staff, mediators or volunteers. We had already recruited 1,700 mediators to help with screening.”
On the continuation of the process, the member of the government underlined: “We are going to deliver 60 million in May and June.” High school students should see the self-tests arrive in their establishments from Monday, May 10. Young people over the age of 15 will thus be offered a self-test per week. Non-compulsory, it can only be carried out with the agreement of the families.