Ministry: Only three complaints received on shortage

PUTRAJAYA: On complaints of a shortage of Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test Kits (RTKs) in the market, only three reports were received from Jan 1 until Monday, says the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.

The price ranges from RM4.90 to RM19.90 each.

“Eighty per cent of RTKs are sold for under RM10 per unit,” said the ministry in a statement.

A total of 8,084 retail premises have been given permission to sell RTKs recognised by the Malaysian Medical Device Authority.

“There is enough supply of RTKs with some 18 million units in the market now,” added the ministry.The availability of RTKs was based on daily monitoring and inspections carried out by the ministry on importers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers to ensure a stable supply of the product, it said.

RTKs were gazetted as a controlled item under the Control of Supplies (Controlled Goods) Order (No.6) 2021 about three months ago.

The order came into force on Dec 1, 2021 to ensure availability and a sufficient supply, Bernama reported the ministry as saying.

Eight manufacturers given the conditional permission to produce RTKs in Malaysia have produced a total of 4.306 million units as of this month, the ministry said. A total of 2.34 million units have been imported from seven countries.