Although the pharmacy did not name a brand, a source who has been at the forefront of bringing home-testing to Israel told The Jerusalem Post it will be a SD Biosensor COVID-19 Ag Home Test. A representative for the pharmacy chain would not confirm that.
The home tests, which will gradually appear on pharmacy shelves this week, will cost NIS 76.90, Super-Pharm said.
Home tests “are for personal use only,” Health Ministry Director-General Nachman Ash said Monday at a press briefing.
“If you want to visit your grandparents and you want to make sure that you do not put them at risk, you can get a test from a pharmacy, test yourself and then go to visit,” he said. “This test does not replace the PCR [coronavirus] test.”
Anyone who uses a home test and receives a positive result is required to enter isolation and then take a PCR test, Ash said, adding that only a PCR test can let an individual out of isolation.
Israel is working to establish a fully operative rapid antigen testing system by August 8, which would enable people who are unvaccinated to test and enter an event in which a Green Pass is required, he said.
The rapid tests, which are likely to cost a few dozen shekels, will be paid for by the people who require them, Ash said.
Children under 12, who cannot be vaccinated, do not require a negative test result to enter a Green Pass establishment.
Super-Pharm said it would begin selling PCR coronavirus tests on Tuesday at 14 select branches for people flying abroad. The results are expected to be delivered within 24 hours to a customer’s personal email, and the tests will cost NIS 119 each, it said.