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From Tuesday, there will be no more free Covid-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs).
Here's what that means for you.
Can I still pick up free tests in the meantime?
You can still get free RATs while stocks last until 1 October.
Any tests collected while they are still free will have a shelf life ranging from December 2025 to May 2027, Te Whatu Ora says.
What happens from 1 October?
Tests will only be available for purchase.
Initially, the government was going to stop providing free tests from 30 June but extended this for three months.
At the time Health Minister Shane Reti said it would allow for a good supply through to the end of winter.
What do the experts think?
Auckland University microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles says "it is extremely depressing that the government continues to remove support for measures that enable people to protect themselves and others from Covid-19".
"Every day, researchers worldwide learn more about how Covid-19 infections can impact us, and the news isn't good."
University of Otago Department of Public Health's Michael Baker says it is important that government continues to provide access to free RATs for diagnosing Covid-19 infection.
"Otherwise, there is a huge equity problem where RATs are only available for those who can afford them, and low-income New Zealanders miss out on their benefits."
RATs are still useful to protect the health of individuals and those around them, he says.
"For older people and those with underlying health conditions, a positive test is needed to qualify for antiviral treatment like Paxlovid. Such treatment reduces the risk of serious illness, hospitalisation, and Long Covid so has health and economic benefits for New Zealand. But treatment must be started within five days of illness, so rapid testing is important.
"RATs are also useful for distinguishing Covid-19 from other respiratory infections. That knowledge will hopefully motivate people to take at least five days of self-isolation and not go to work, school or social events and infect others. After this self-isolation, a test is also useful to see if a person has cleared the infection and unlikely to be infectious to others."
RATs are also a useful screening tool in some situations, like before visiting someone in a rest home, he says.
He wants to see evidence that the use of RATs is no longer justified before they are no longer free, and that there are sufficient measures in place to manage "the large health and economic harms being caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic".
University of Canterbury professor of applied mathematics and statistics Michael Plank agrees getting rid of free tests will increase inequity.
"However, we also need to look at the cost of continuing to provide free RATs, and whether we could get more benefit from spending that money elsewhere in the healthcare system."
He says if you are sick, you should avoid infecting other people.
"That's still true even if you test negative for Covid because you could have another respiratory illness such as influenza.
"Using RATs to test asymptomatic people is very inefficient as it likely requires hundreds of tests just to find one case, so the costs mount up quickly. As a tool for reducing the annual number of infections, testing probably has a very marginal effect now that we have high population-level immunity from vaccines and prior infections."
From a surveillance point of view, he says RATs are of limited use because we have no idea how many people are sick but not testing. It is more useful to look at indicators like hospitalisations and GP visits in tandem with wastewater testing and genomic sequencing.
"So overall it seems likely that the money we have been spending on RATs could have a bigger impact elsewhere, such as targeted vaccination campaigns for high-risk groups or extending free influenza vaccine eligibility."
Also disappointed is University of Otago Department of Primary Health Care's Dr Lesley Gray who says Covid is still very much in our communities.
"I would like to see free RAT tests continue for families and/or carers of people who are at higher risk of serious symptoms if they were to contract Covid-19 (e.g. older people, certain pre-existing health conditions such as heart disease, asthma, COPD).
"We know that some transmission of Covid-19 comes from asymptomatic transmission and scientific studies show that the use of face masks has a protective effect for people exposed to Covid-19 infection in the community. Face masking continues to be a good personal protective tool for those who are able to wear a mask."
As of Monday 23 September, 4426 deaths in New Zealand had been attributed to the virus, which has killed millions worldwide since its emergence in 2019.
