CHANGES to Australia's COVID testing guidelines are causing confusion, say Newcastle pharmacists, with demand for rapid antigen tests "off the charts".
The NSW government has announced a plan to distribute free rapid antigen tests from the end of January and on Thursday, the federal government announced new rules to ease the strain on testing clinics.
Piggott's Pharmacy owner Anthony Piggott said uncertainty around when the tests would be given out for free made it difficult to order stock.
"Last night, we got a delivery of 11 boxes with 360 tests in each which have sold out in about four hours today," Mr Piggott told the Newcastle Herald.
"I could have ordered four times as many tests and still sold them. But I only know that now - in hindsight.
"It makes it hard for import companies and pharmacies when the state government makes announcements about free rapid antigen tests but doesn't have a solid plan. With difficulties around supply at the moment we probably won't get more until at least January 4."
Mr Piggott said that while RATs had the benefit of being quick, he urged people to read, and adhere to, the instructions in order to get the "best results possible".
"Anecdotally, some people have said they've received a positive PCR, then negative rapids and also vice-versa. This can be for a variety of reason - user error or differences in viral load depending on the timing of the tests."
IGA stores in Dungog, Merewether and New Lambton do not currently have RATs in stock with hopes to receive fresh orders over the weekend or early next week.
Even with limits of 10 tests per customer, many Woolworths stores across the region cannot keep up with demand.
"We've been sending tens of thousands of rapid antigen testing kits to our stores each day, but they're selling through very quickly with the recent surge in demand," a Woolworths Supermarkets spokesperson said.
"We have a much larger order of stock on the way from our suppliers and expect the availability of kits to improve for our customers within the next week."
Ananth Sarathy, managing director of online supplier Healthylife, said the company still has tests available.
"We have stock ready to ship and our team is working around the clock to dispatch orders to our customers as quickly as possible," Ms Ananth said.
Andrew Stone, co owner of Morisset Main Street Pharmacy, said he's had to limit sales to seven tests per customer as fresh orders sell out in less than a day.
"We managed to get a decent sized delivery today of 280 boxes of seven and 500 singles," Mr Stone said on Friday morning.
"We provide an after-hours service so we anticipate these will sell out by the time we close today."
Amid a stream of "relentless calls", Mr Stone said pharmacists across the region have been working together to distribute the load.
"We have our own group where share information about deliveries and who has stock. So then we can send customers to other providers accordingly."
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