Supporting people and society with COVID-19 antibody testing in Sweden
3.9.2020
Kronans Apotek, our Swedish pharmacy chain, was among the first pharmacies in the country to start offering antibody tests. The service, available in approximately 130 pharmacies, supports not only customers to get a quick and easy indication to whether they have had the COVID-19 infection but also burdened healthcare.
To decrease the spreading of the COVID-19, many countries are now increasingly focusing on wide testing of suspected infections. The Public Health Agency of Sweden recommends anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 to take the test. However, as not everyone with mild symptoms get tested and some infected people might not even develop any symptoms, an antibody test can help to detect if a person has had the infection i.e. if a person’s immune system has encountered and reacted to the COVID-19. A positive result means that a person is less at risk of getting the infection and therefore, less at risk of passing the infection to others.
Kronans Apotek was among the first pharmacies in Sweden to start offering antibody tests to its customers in the end of June. Now, Kronans Apotek has the widest offering of antibody tests in the pharmacy field in Sweden, as they are available in approximately 130 pharmacies across the country. The antibody test is done through a blood test in the finger and the test results can be read within 15 minutes. The service is available without a referral from a physician.
“Antibody tests offer our customers quick and easy way to get indication whether they have been infected or not. I’m very happy that the service has been very well received, and furthermore, that it allows us to support not only our customers, but also burdened healthcare and Swedish society. We report our test data to the Public Health Agency of Sweden to help them to get a better overview of the COVID-19 situation. Starting this service also demonstrates our staff’s dedication to our customers, as we were up and running in the first pharmacies just five workdays after the decision to launch antibody tests,” says Anders Torell, Vice President of Business Area Consumer at Oriola.
The test Kronans Apotek is offering is an antibody test from the Swedish pharmaceutical company Noviral. The test is CE-marked via the Medical Products Agency and included on the Public Health Agency of Sweden’s list of serological tests for antibody testing.
