The Pharmacy Council of Thailand has authorized some local pharmacies to distribute COVID-19 antigen test kits (ATK) free of charge to individuals at-risk.
Council president Assoc. Prof Jiraporn Limpananont said once the ATK kits become available, they will be distributed to Type-1 pharmacies, which are registered with the National Health Security Office (NHSO). There are about 10,000 such pharmacies across the country and about 1,000 have joined the scheme.
She explained that a Type-1 pharmacy is open for at least eight hours every day and has a full-time pharmacist on the premises. Only individuals who are certified as being at-risk of getting infected by COVID-19 and are registered with the NHSO can receive ATKs free-of-charge from participating pharmacies.
Assoc. Prof Jiraporn said people will be evaluated and briefed by the on-site pharmacist before receiving their ATKs. After testing, ATK recipients must report their test results to get further advice. The council is also coordinating with Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration to allow local pharmacies to distribute favipiravir to COVID-19 patients in home isolation. (NNT)
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