Self-Test Kits to Be Bought and Sold 'Online' Starting May (Update)

MFDS to Fully Lift Distribution Improvement Measures for Self-Test Kits Starting Next Month 1

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Starting in May, COVID-19 self-test kits will be available for sale and purchase online.

On the 25th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that as the distribution and supply of COVID-19 self-test kits have stabilized, all distribution improvement measures on the kits will be lifted from the 1st of next month.

With the lifting of the restriction that limited the purchase and sale of self-test kits to pharmacies and convenience stores only, from May, self-test kits will be available for purchase online as well.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has been implementing distribution improvement measures since February 13 to stabilize the prices of self-test kits. This was due to a change in guidelines from February 3, which limited polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing to high-risk groups and other priority subjects, causing self-test kit prices to rise and supply to become unstable.

During the distribution improvement period, the Ministry confirmed that production and supply capacity of self-test kits had sufficiently increased. Approximately 100 million self-test kits were supplied to pharmacies and convenience stores during this period. About 170 million kits were supplied to the public sector, including central government agencies and local governments.

As the supply situation improved, the Ministry gradually lifted the distribution improvement measures. On the 25th of last month, the sales quantity limit, which had been set at five units, was lifted, and production of small-packaged products was permitted. From the 4th of this month, the price designation measure fixed at 6,000 won was also lifted.

Kim Kang-lip, Commissioner of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, said, "We would like to express our gratitude to manufacturers, distributors, the Pharmaceutical Association, the Convenience Store Association, and other related organizations and groups who actively cooperated and worked hard to ensure that self-test kits were supplied to as many citizens as possible in a timely manner during the distribution improvement period." He added, "Even after the end of the distribution improvement measures, we will continue to monitor the self-test kit market situation."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.