Lateral Flow Test Kit Shortage In Market Harborough – HFM

A shortage in the availability of Covid-19 lateral flow test kits in and around Market Harborough is being blamed on unprecedented demand and supply chain issues.

People who tried to get hold of the free kits yesterday have told Hfm they could not find any in pharmacies or other places who stock them.

The UK Health Security Agency, responsible for distributing the kits, says there was a temporary delay in pharmacies receiving orders, although the issue should now be resolved.

It says during exceptional demand there may be temporary pauses in ordering or collecting tests, to ensure that distribution can be managed effectively across the system.

A spokesperson said: “Due to a supply chain issue there was a temporary delay in some pharmacies receiving their rapid test orders. Pharmacies are now continuing to receive deliveries.

“Despite unprecedented demand, we are continuing to supply millions of rapid lateral flow tests every day.

“We are issuing record numbers of rapid test kits to people’s homes across the country, and our delivery capacity has doubled to 900,000 test kits per day since Saturday 18 December so more people can order tests. Over the last weekend, more than 7 million lateral flow tests were distributed to households ordering online.

“Last week saw record numbers of rapid tests distributed to pharmacies, with over 11 million test kits sent.”

Kits can also be ordered on-line for delivery by post and Royal Mail has doubled its capacity to cope with demand.

Related