Israelis who are vaccinated are no longer required to undergo PCR tests to check if they are infected with COVID-19. Instead, all they need to do is undergo a take-home rapid antigen test.
The best way to take the test:
The Health Ministry’s website describes an antigen test as a “rapid and adequate detection in order to allow access to facilities that must comply with the Green Pass restrictions for those who are unvaccinated and noninfected (for a period of 24 hours after testing).”
The rapid antigen test can be taken at home, as testing kits are sold in pharmacies. However, a test cannot be used to request a certificate that complies with Green Pass restrictions according to the Health Ministry. Rather, it is intended for people who need a quick indication if they are sick, either after being exposed to someone infected or because they are suffering from COVID-like symptoms.
How to take an antigen test:
- Take the swab out of the packet and insert the end of the swab into your nose (some experts recommend first inserting the swab into your throat and then into your nose).
- Take the swab out of your nose and insert the same end into the solution.
- Squeeze the bottom of the plastic solution vial while turning the swab around inside.
- Pour a few drops of the solution onto the testing strip.
- Wait 15 minutes. One line means you are negative. Two lines – even if one is blurry – are considered a positive result.
The video with the steps of conducting an antigen test can be seen below:
Rapid COVID-19 testing centers officially opened in Israel in August, operated by Magen David Adom, whose medics are performing tens of thousands of rapid tests every day. A rapid test provides results within 15 minutes at an accuracy level of between 85% and 95%, as opposed to a PCR test, which is said to be completely accurate.
However, rapid tests may fail to detect an Omicron case on the first day of infection, according to a New York Times report, which said even if antigen test users have high levels of the virus, the most common at-home antigen tests, the Abbott BinaxNOW and Quidel QuickVue, may fail to detect some Omicron infections. However, the study the Times cited has not officially yet been peer-reviewed.
A week before the study was conducted, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in a statement regarding the antigen tests’ efficiency, said: “Early data suggests that antigen tests do detect the Omicron variant but may have reduced sensitivity.”
Regarding allegations about antigen tests’ unreliability, Dr. Dudi Steiner, an immunologist who has developed rapid antigen tests, said: “The tests are convenient, but they are not enough.”
Health experts have said those who are exposed to the virus and choose to take antigen tests should at least take two over the course of two days, the Times report said. Antigen test users who tested negative when swabbing inside their noses had a positive result when they swabbed the back of their throats instead, it said.
Rossella Tercatin and Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman contributed to this report.