BC residents aged 60 and older can now access free COVID-19 rapid tests from pharmacies.
The provincial government expanded eligibility for the tests on Monday after first making the kits available to those aged 70 and older on February 25th.
According to the BC Pharmacy Association, the free kits are available at four participating pharmacies in Fort St. John, five in Dawson Creek, and one in both Tumbler Ridge and Fort Nelson.
Each kit has five tests, and another one can be picked up in 28 days. People picking up the kit will be required to show their personal health numbers.
If an individual is picking up the kit for someone else, they must provide that person’s name, personal health number, and date of birth.
The province says kits should only be picked up by those who are asymptomatic to use in the future when they have symptoms.
No official timeline has been released, but health officials have said that eligibility will continue to expand over the coming weeks.
“As of March 3rd, the Ministry of Health has shipped 3.9 million tests to pharmacy distributors. Of these, 1.8 million rapid tests have been shipped to community pharmacies throughout the province, and as many as 583,000 rapid tests have been dispensed through the more than 1,000 participating pharmacies,” said the ministry in a release.
The province is expecting an additional nine million tests from the federal government.
