Corona 19 self-test kit (CG)▶ Click here for a larger view
Online sales of COVID-19 self-test kits will be banned from the 13th, and the quantity that individuals can purchase offline, such as pharmacies and convenience stores, is limited to five at a time. However, there is no particular limit on how many times a person can purchase in a day.
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s measures to improve the distribution of COVID-19 self-test kits implemented from this day to the 5th of next month, online sales of COVID-19 self-test kits are prohibited for three weeks. Inventory can be sold online until the 16th, but after that, it must be sold only offline.
During this period, sales are simplified to pharmacies and convenience stores (CU · GS25).
Convenience stores start supply and supply period may vary depending on the situation, and in some cases, it is expected that it will take about a week to prepare for sale. The government has supplied 8.14 million self-test kits for COVID-19 to pharmacies for three days from the 10th.
Self-test kit manufacturers will only manufacture 20 or more bulk packaging products for the time being. This is to shorten the time it takes to manufacture small packages and increase the efficiency of logistics and delivery to increase domestic supply.
These large-capacity packaged products are sold individually at pharmacies and convenience stores, so individuals can purchase one at a time.
However, it should be noted that the number of purchases per person is limited to 5 pieces.
If pharmacies or convenience stores only sell products packaged in 2 pieces, you can only purchase 2 products in 2 pieces according to the ‘Limit 5 pieces per person limit’ principle.
There is no restriction on the number of purchases per day, although the number of purchases is limited.
An official from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said, “We are judging that the current situation is a situation that requires stabilization of distribution rather than an absolute shortage of supply like at the time of mask management.”
Pharmacies and convenience stores that sell individually must comply with the manual provided by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
Pharmacies and convenience stores must comply with the appropriate storage temperature of 2-30℃ for self-inspection kits and periodically check for quality abnormalities with the naked eye.
When subdividing, wash your hands using hand sanitizer, etc., and then wear disposable sanitary gloves, etc. Subdivided products can be sold one by one in an envelope produced and distributed by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Meanwhile, the Korean Pharmacopoeia is opposed to having the COVID-19 self-test kits sold in small batches at convenience stores that do not have a medical device sales license. This is because it is unacceptable for part-time workers who have no concept of handling medical devices or safety management of medical devices to proceed with sub-sales.
The Pharmaceutical Association urged the government to immediately release the stockpiled amount, saying that a policy centered on the supply of finished products in small packages rather than large quantities is needed.
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