Brazil: Bolsonaro In Favor Of COVID-19 Self-Tests

President Jair Bolsonaro wrote on his Twitter account this Sunday (Jan. 16), that the COVID-19 antigen self-test can ensure quick measures to interrupt the virus transmission chain.

“Our purpose is to make the tests available in pharmacies, drugstores, and other health establishments for people with or without symptoms, who are interested in carrying out a self-testing”, he said.

According to his declaration, antigen tests are already widely used in Emergency Care Units (UPas), Family clinics, or basic health centers throughout the country.

Regarding the vaccination process, he said that more than 381 million doses of vaccine have been distributed by the government to all Brazilian states and municipalities.

Last Thursday (Jan. 13), the Ministry of Health sent a technical note to the National Drug Regulator Anvisa, requesting authorization for the sale of self-tests for COVID.

In the document, the ministry argues that the use of self-tests would be a complementary strategy to the testing plan adopted during the pandemic.

This measure would allow the expansion of the number of tests, and consequently the identification of more cases of infection. And in the case of a positive result, one could more promptly adopt measures recommended by the ministry, especially isolation to combat the circulation of the virus.