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Ministers have repeatedly insisted that millions of the Chinese-made kits are lying in warehouses across the country, and that the problem lies in distribution rather than supply.
But on Friday night, the pharmaceutical negotiating services committee, which represents all 11,200 pharmacies in England, said UKHSA had privately warned that it “could not deliver any further test kits to distribution centres this morning” and that “most pharmacies will not receive a delivery of test kits today”.
‘Huge demand’
Alastair Buxton, director of NHS service at the PSNC, said: “It is regrettable that despite reassurances earlier this week, UKHSA have now told us that many pharmacies will not receive further LFTs today, and possibly on Saturday.
“Pharmacies are still experiencing huge demand for tests, and this is adding to the considerable pressures that they are already under at this busy time of year.
“Pharmacy teams are working flat out to meet patient demand for tests, healthcare advice and medicines, with some also busy offering Covid boosters.”
The free tests are a key part of No10’s Plan B strategy, with vaccinated close contacts of positive cases told to use them daily for a week instead of isolating. Unvaccinated people must show proof of having a negative result to enter large events.
Officials have also urged the public to use the kits before meeting loved ones in the run-up to Christmas, in a bid to quell the spread of omicron.
A UKHSA spokesperson said: “Due to a supply chain issue there has been a temporary delay in some pharmacies receiving their rapid test orders. This is being resolved and normal service will resume shortly.
“This week has seen record numbers of rapid tests distributed across the country, with over 11million test kits sent to pharmacies across the UK.
“There is no shortage of free rapid tests and there are a range of ways that people can get them to help combat the spread of Covid-19.”
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