The explosion of Covid-19 cases and flu-like patients has led to a race for tests to detect the coronavirus. For those looking for exams in pharmacies, scheduling difficulties and lack of stock are the main bottlenecks. In ten units in the central region of São Paulo of the Droga Raia, Drogasil and Drogaria São Paulo chains consulted by the report this Friday, 7th, there is only possibility of scheduling for the next Wednesday, 12th. In the public network, mayors already charge the government federal agency to send more kits for fear of shortages.
Data from the Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Chains (Abrafarma) indicate that 283,800 tests were carried out between December 27 and January 2: 50% higher than between December 20 and 26. The volume of positive results for covid jumped from 22.3 thousand (11.8% of the total) to 94.5 thousand (33.3%). The difficulty of service in the SUS, according to representatives of the sector, also puts even more pressure on the private network. The influenza (flu) epidemic in several states and the spread of the more contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus are the main reasons for the acceleration of demand.
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“The main problem today is the stock”, says the CEO of Abrafarma, Sérgio Mena Barreto. This is because, he explains, rapid tests peaked around May last year, when 380,000 were sold in a period of one week. Afterwards, however, the average dropped significantly. “As people got vaccinated, demand went down. We reached 90,000, 100,000 tests a week around November. It is obvious that the companies’ systems are adapting”, says Barreto.
“But from the second week of December onwards, it started to accelerate from one hour to the next. In the last week of December, it rose to 280,000 tests,” he adds. In addition to demand, the recess of supplier companies at this time of year and the low stock in pharmacies further complicate the scenario. Now, says Barreto, it is not possible to predict what will happen in the next few weeks, not least because it is not known what the behavior of the contamination curve will be. But the expectation is that the orders for inputs that began to be made with the sudden increase in demand begin to arrive at pharmacies and help to normalize the situation.
Droga Raia and Drogasil reported, in a note, that “covid tests have run out quickly due to the high demand of the population”. They said they were still working to replenish stocks next week. Drogaria São Paulo, on the other hand, stated that “as demand increases every day, appointment times quickly run out”. He added that he still strives to meet all the demand.
“The week between Christmas and New Year was an explosion of testing. Now it’s become crazy”, says Marcelo Borges, owner and technical director of the Ourilab laboratory, in the interior of São Paulo. According to him, demand has increased by about 300% in the company, while the percentage of positive tests is around 30%.
Borges explains that while between 2020 and 2021 there was also an explosion in demand, the middle months of last year registered a “very large drop”, which caused the laboratory to even lose supplies. This is because, he adds, this raw material usually has a very short expiration date, around two months, which makes it difficult for laboratories to make robust stocks to carry out antigen tests (the fastest), PCR (the molecular, considered the most accurate ), between others.
“Even based on last year’s experience, we supply, but the stock of covid tests is running out very fast. Our estimate is that it should last another five days, if it continues at the current pace”, says the owner of the laboratory. Influenza (flu) tests, he explains, ran out over the course of this week. “We believe that input suppliers did not believe so much in the increase in demand.”
Faced with the fact that influenza tests are more expensive, laboratory representatives consulted by the state pointed out that, as much as this is not recommended, patients with flu symptoms have preferred to perform only the covid exams. When the result is negative, they explain, they assume it is the flu.
A supplier of supplies for in vitro diagnostics, Vyttra Diagnósticos reported that the search for the combo that tests for covid and influenza at once jumped 14,864% from November to December. According to the company, there is still no shortage of products in stock, but there has been a peak in demand since December, which, it estimates, will continue while Brazil is “under the wave of the Ômicron variant”.
“We found that Ômicron became the predominant variant in our samples, being responsible for more than 94% of the cases of covid in our tests, and in the last sequencing we did, we had 100% of Ômicron”, points out David Schlesinger, CEO of Ômicron. Mendelics, a company that produces tests and says it does not need imports for its products. In the 1st week of December, the Mendelics positive case rate was close to 3%. Now it’s around 23%.
Mayor who leads consortium sees risk of shortages
The mayor of Florianópolis, Gean Loureiro (DEM), said this Thursday, 6th, that he sees a risk of shortage of covid tests in the face of the escalation of infected in the country. Loureiro presides over Conectar, a consortium that brings together over 2,000 municipal administrations. The group also asked for reinforcement in the delivery of medicines for covid and influenza.
“The test will be lacking in a little while, with this increase in demand that is having […] The federal government, which leads national policy, needs to act quickly. In addition to the transmission rate of covid, which is growing enormously, we have the issue of Influenza. Anyone who has symptoms gets tested for covid too,” Loureiro told the newspaper. Estadão/Broadcast Political.
Loureiro mentions that, in the capital of Santa Catarina, the three Emergency Care Units (UPAs) in the city have an average of 800 visits per day. Last Monday, the 3rd, the number exceeded 3,500. “In the wave (of covid) that we had in March, the problem was ICU beds and deaths. Although Omicron is less aggressive to the body, these weak symptoms make you go to the emergency room even if you are not hospitalized. Mayors are suffering from overcrowding. We are experiencing the collapse of basic health units, hospital emergencies.”
In addition to the increase in the number of tests, the mayors of the Conectar Consortium ask, in the letter sent to the Ministry of Health, for help in setting up a structure for the application of the exams. “I took gyms, itinerant trucks to do the testing, but there are municipalities that cannot do that. It is necessary to support all municipalities and test everyone, both symptomatic and asymptomatic”, reports Loureiro.
Secretary of Health of Espírito Santo, Nésio Fernandes says that managers’ access to exams has become easier, with greater production of kits and the offer of products at lower prices. The structure of local governments to open testing points, however, is limited. “There is financial difficulty for states and municipalities to quickly open large numbers of testing points, due to the logistical complexity”, explained Fernandes. The expansion of testing in the public network, therefore, would involve measures such as hiring personal protective equipment and a greater number of professionals to administer the tests, says the Espírito Santo manager.
This Friday, the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, said that, if it is necessary to expand the offer of tests, the ministry will do that. The federal government promises to distribute 6 million diagnostic kits to municipalities next week. For the month of January, the total delivery forecast is 30 million units.
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