Last week, the chair of NPHET’s modelling group Professor Philip Nolan said the store-bought antigen tests “will not keep you safe.” He also said home antigen tests are usually accurate at saying if a person is infectious with COVID at the moment of testing, although a person with the virus may not have contracted antibodies yet. Mark Ferguson, the government’s chief scientific advisor, last week told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that antigen testing is “as effective as quarantine” in finding and isolating infectious individuals. Many experts have said the test accuracy, while lower than PCR, is still extremely high and very useful.Ī Department of Health group recommended in March that antigen tests should be rolled out in areas such as colleges, workplaces and at events. The use of antigen testing has proved divisive. They are less sensitive than PCR tests - which are currently the standard test used by the HSE - but give results much faster. “If you can buy your antigen test in your local shop, you simply shouldn’t use it.” Rapid-antigen testingĪntigen tests are a type of rapid-Covid test. “If the evidence in relation to that changes, we’ll change our advice – but on the basis of our assessment of the evidence, that’s my clear public health advice. Speaking to Newstalk, Dr Holohan said: “So, our clear advice and the advice of the HSE is that the antigen tests that you can buy in shops and chemists and so on to administer to yourself at home you shouldn’t use them. A Boson Biotech Covid-19 antigen test pictured outside Lidl Drumcondra, 07-05-2021.

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