Test Prices May Reach Up to 20,000 Drams: 'Chorrord Ishkhanutyun'

'Chorrord Ishkhanutyun' newspaper reports that since October 14, when citizens were required by the Minister of Health's order to either be vaccinated or present a negative test result, there have been large crowds and queues at laboratories conducting coronavirus testing. Citizens who avoid vaccination are obliged, according to the minister's order, to present a negative test result to their employers in order not to be deprived of their jobs.

Our sources indicate that a deficit of tests is beginning to be observed in the country due to the mandatory testing requirement, which may subsequently lead to an increase in test prices. As is known, local production is not capable of supplying tests in large quantities, and tests are imported from abroad. However, importers of tests did not take into account that after the implementation of the mandatory testing requirement stipulated by the minister's order, huge queues would form in laboratories for testing.

One of the test importers told us that there is currently a shortage of coronavirus tests in the country, and it is not excluded that test prices may rise again, reaching up to 20,000 drams. It is difficult to say whether the government will take action against this, although the government sees the fight against the pandemic solely through collective vaccination.

Incidentally, the queues at laboratories for tests are full of risks for coronavirus infection as the anti-epidemic rules are being violated due to the crowds and queues of citizens, and testing laboratories effectively become hotbeds of virus transmission.

Perhaps more than 600,000 citizens in Armenia have already been vaccinated to avoid such issues and to combat the pandemic, thereby also eliminating the problem of spending money on tests several times a month.