Lateral Flow Test Demand May Surge Amid New Rules For Double Jabbed

People who have had two coronavirus vaccine jabs will now need to take lateral flow tests for up to seven successive days if they are identified as contacts of those who have tested positive for the virus, under new government rules.

The measure changes the previous step of making those with two jabs exempt from having to take any action if they were a close contact of a positive case, following last summer’s ‘pingdemic’ caused by the Delta wave.

Ministers have imposed the new rules as the Omnicron variant spreads rapidly across the UK, especially in London, where it now accounts for a third of cases. A key reason for this is that the variant has been identified as having significant capacity to infect even those with two jabs, even though vaccination is still expected to provide substantial protection against existing disease.

Because of this, demand for lateral flow tests may surge as the Omicron wave spreads, providing life science marketing opportunities for producers.

Although positive tests could disrupt the Christmas plans for many people, others may be reassured that the tests are giving them the all-clear to spend the festive season with their loved ones in the knowledge they will not pass the virus onto them. 

The government said the measure “aims to reduce pressures on people’s everyday lives by replacing the requirement for Omicron contacts to isolate for ten days”.

Unvaccinated people do not have the option of taking these tests, and must isolate for ten days whether they have tested negative or not.

The spread of Omicron has also seen the government focus heavily on booster jabs, with new data indicating that while two jabs offers little protection against Omicron, three gives 75 per cent protection against symptomatic disease.

Over 23 million people have now had a booster, with current rates of third jabs running at over 500,000 a day.