The Manitoba government is calling on Ottawa to lift a ban on the direct sale to provinces of a newly approved rapid test for COVID-19.
Earlier this week, Health Canada regulators approved the ID NOW rapid COVID-19 testing device for use in the country. It’s a move that could result in millions more tests being done around Canada and especially in remote communities.
“We were going to place orders for as many as we could get to Manitoba but we were told right off the hop that we could not get any,” Central Services Minister Reg Helwer said Friday.
The Abbott Laboratories-backed point-of-care devices can be administered by trained professionals at places like pharmacies, walk-in clinics and doctors’ offices without the need for a laboratory to determine if someone is infected with the virus.
The devices can produce COVID results in 15 minutes.
Helwar said within 24 hours his team tried to procure as many as possible for Manitoba.
“In response to our attempt to place a significant order of these tests for use in Manitoba, we were advised the Government of Canada had blocked the direct sale of these rapid tests to provinces,” Helwer said.
“This is a completely unacceptable action.”
Late Friday afternoon a spokesperson for Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu denied the allegations.
“We have not blocked any provinces or territories from making their own orders independently of the federal government,” the spokesperson said in an email to Global News.
The spokesperson said the millions of tests the federal government has purchased is similar to what they have done throughout the pandemic and they will be working to distribute them to the areas that need them the most.
“These tests will be distributed to provinces and territories in the coming weeks using the same agreed to approach we have used since the beginning of the pandemic, while working to ensure that tests are going where they are needed the most,” the spokesperson said in an email.
“We have been working on bulk purchases with provinces and territories throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so.”
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc was asked about the issue in Ottawa Friday and said he was aware it had been brought up on a call Thursday night between the Prime Minister and Premier Brian Pallister.
“Anything that would improve the safety and security of Manitobans is something we share Pallister’s concerns around,” LeBlanc said.
“The (Prime Minister) reassured Premier Pallister that we would be there to support the needs of Manitobans.”
Earlier this week, the federal government said it would buy roughly 7.9 million ID NOW tests from the U.S.-based firm for distribution in Canada.
“The federal government has indicated they will decide how that supply will be allocated across the country,” Helwer said.
So the provincial government said it was trying to get its own supply and faster.
“When they put prohibitions on what we need to buy to make sure we have testing availability it can create problems and testing is a hot topic in Manitoba right now,” Helwer said.
Manitoba has been struggling with long line ups at COVID-19 sites for weeks, and the province has promised to add more locations.
Helwer said they are doing everything they can to address the issues and were hoping this may be another option.