B.C. to begin offering free at-home COVID-19 rapid tests for residents 70 and older

B.C. residents - particularly those ages 70 and older - will soon have far greater access to at-home rapid tests for COVID-19 than they had earlier on in the pandemic.

B.C. residents - particularly those ages 70 and older - will soon have far greater access to at-home rapid tests for COVID-19 than they had earlier on in the pandemic.

The provincial government announced Wednesday that it will soon begin providing rapid antigen tests to pharmacies for free distribution to B.C. seniors living in the community.

Roughly 865,000 tests have been provided to pharmacy distributors, and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix's presentation during a news conference Wednesday afternoon indicated that they could begin appearing in pharmacies around B.C. by Friday.

Henry stressed that rapid tests are "a red light," not a green light. People should only test themselves for COVID-19 if they have symptoms, and should not consider a negative result a licence to ignore pandemic guidelines, the provincial health officer said.

The tests will be available free of charge for B.C. residents, though initially only those ages 70 and older will be able to pick up a pack of five tests.

The province plans to expand availability to younger age groups over time, with an estimated 12 million more tests expected to arrive in the province over the next four weeks.

Henry said she expected the availability of tests would be expanded to people of all ages over that time period, as long as the tests arrive as scheduled.