Extended health pass: test rush reaches new heights

The Kador pharmacy receives around a hundred daily calls, at the port of Morgat in Finistère.

“

We are asked if it is possible to get tested.

But it is impossible, we could not put a device in place,

"says the pharmacist,"

we are overwhelmed,

"she laments.

The time is short, but also the staff.

The pharmacy must already take care of the 300 to 400 patients who flock every day, for usual care.

Elsewhere on the Crozon peninsula, the situation is similar, none of the pharmacies carry out an anti-Covid test.

All are outdated.

Read also: Health pass: will companies have to pay for the Covid tests of their employees?

Since the entry into force of the health pass obligation on Monday to access restaurants, bars or trains, the demand for anti-Covid tests has exploded, particularly in tourist areas such as on the peninsula, where the population is quadrupled in August. Getting tested has become an impossible mission. Bertrand experienced it. A 22-year-old student on vacation with his family, he has to take a train back to Paris at the end of the week. “

Everywhere I asked, the next available slots were at the end of August,

” says the business school student. "

I even made an appointment in Brest to be sure, an hour by car from here

», He laments. Finally, he was able to be received in a private nurses' office, one of the few to offer walk-in tests on the peninsula. Getting up early is essential to arrive before the many people who storm this office each morning.

The peninsula is far from being an isolated case: similar scenes are reproduced in multiple territories across France. The trend had also been visible for a month: the announcement of the extension of the health pass and the rise of the epidemic, the demand for tests has only increased, reaching unprecedented levels. Last week, according to the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees), nearly 4.2 million antigen and RT-PCR tests were validated, a number up 1.6 % compared to the previous week - and 81.45% compared to mid-July.

In total, since March 2020, “

116.8 million tests

” have been validated, including a quarter of antigens, underlines Drees.

The daily record for the number of validated tests remains set for July 30, when more than 850,000 samples had been recorded.

On August 6, this milestone was almost reached, with more than 835,000 validated tests.

This increase is mainly carried by the "

26-40 years

", analyzes the Drees, which adds that the number of tests carried out is "

relatively stable for the other age groups, and even decreasing for the less than 16 years

".

In addition, the antigenic tests, carried out mainly in pharmacies and allowing to have a result in about twenty minutes, are visibly favored by the French: while their share in the total of the recorded tests has peaked, in recent months, at 20%. , this proportion jumped to 58.3% last week. The record for the number of antigenic tests was also reached on August 6, with 505,000 validated samples. Never seen.

The extension of the health pass is probably not for nothing: antigenic tests represent more than 60% of the total tests recorded in many tourist departments, including Corse-du-Sud, Hautes-Alpes, France. Aube and the Bouches-du-Rhône.

Faster and often carried out without an appointment, these tests allow you to easily validate your health pass.

An argument that has not fallen on deaf ears.

Strong demand for tests in pharmacies since Monday

This upward trend should not be interrupted: according to the first data reported by the Federation of dispensing pharmacists (FSPF), on August 9, 471,719 debit acts were performed in 59% of pharmacies in the territory authorized to carry out antigenic tests.

If the increase in the demand for tests was predictable, the figures that fell in the middle of the week contrast with the number of samples taken in July, before Emmanuel Macron's announcements on the extension of the health pass.

Nearly 152,319 antigenic samples were taken by pharmacies between July 4 and 6, compared with 705,376 samples taken between August 8 and 10.

"

We are at the maximum of the capacity of some 12,000 pharmacies that do tests,

" says Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of community pharmacists (FSPF).

The union has seen demand for antigen testing dramatically increase in recent weeks, especially the days before vacationing on Fridays and in tourist areas.

For the chairman of the FSPF's economic commission, this enthusiasm for testing “

will not last long

”. And for good reason, the pharmacist recalls that "

many young people are still in the midst of the vaccination course

", while the antigenic tests still mainly concern 18-30 year olds. According to Philippe Besset, if the increased demand for tests was anticipated by the FSPF, the number of samples taken should decrease after mid-August, as more and more people see their health pass activated each time. day by completing their vaccination schedule.