Covid-19: why is it still not possible to buy self-tests in supermarkets? – LCI

Will we soon be able to obtain self-tests in supermarkets? In any case, this is the wish of several hypermarket bosses, Michel-Édouard Leclerc in the lead, who are taking advantage of this end-of-year holiday period conducive to preventive screening to again claim the right to be able to sell self-tests.

“When are the self-tests for everyone in hypermarkets expected?” he writes on his site, recalling that since “more than a year” his company “offers free distribution” self-tests. “If we had the right, the Leclercs would sell the self-tests for less than 2 euros. It would be half the price of the cheapest pharmacies. And in any case, it becomes even difficult to find them”, he continues.

Ready to act in the event of a sudden turnaround, the Leclerc group has already announced that it has stored a few thousand copies. Last March, Carrefour also bought a million tests in anticipation of authorization. “At the moment, we are not allowed to do so so I haven’t ordered any”, for his part indicated on BFM Business, the executive purchasing and marketing director of Lidl France, Michel Biero. “But we can have them quickly enough if necessary, so if Mr. Véran allows us to sell them tomorrow, we will ask ourselves the question and we will probably order some”, he insisted.

The reason that currently prevents supermarkets from selling these screening devices is legislative. Self-tests are considered in France as “in vitro diagnostic medical devices” and therefore, under the law, can only be sold in pharmacies, under Article L.4211-1 of the Public Health Code. Last spring Jérôme Salomon, the Director General of Health, did not fail to notify those concerned: “if a supermarket decides to sell these self-tests, it will be illegal.” This is not the case with some of our neighbors, since Belgian, German or Swiss supermarkets are already authorized to sell self-tests.

So, is a relaxation of French legislation on the agenda? On December 16, the Minister of Solidarity and Health, traveling in Vaucluse, in any case did not exclude it, indicating that so that “French people can be massively tested before the end of the year celebrations”, access “the self-tests would be made easier” without, however, further details. “There are a lot of them and they will be useful since pharmacies or laboratories will not be able to test 60 million French people in one day”. However, nothing has since been announced, not even free.