As requested by the European Council, on Friday 18 December the European Commission presented a proposal for a Recommendation establishing a common framework for the use, validation and mutual recognition of rapid antigen detection tests to better combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
Building on a previous recommendation setting common quality criteria for antigenic tests (see EUROPE 12604/4), the European institution recommends in particular that Member States use rapid antigen detection tests in the following circumstances: – in case of diagnosis of Covid-19 in symptomatic cases, contacts of confirmed cases, epidemic outbreaks, screening in high-risk areas and closed places; – when a confirmatory RT-PCR test or a second rapid antigen detection test is required.
On the validation and mutual recognition of antigenic tests, it is recommended that Member States: – develop and share with the Commission a common list of antigenic tests which carry the CE marking and meet minimum requirements of sensitivity and specificity; – agree on the regular updating of this common list when new results of independent studies are available and new tests come onto the market; – mutually recognise the results of a selection of tests from among those to be included in the joint list; – study the necessity and possibility of a digital platform to validate the authenticity of Covid-19 test certificates.
“Rapid antigen detection tests give us the speed, reliability and rapid responses to isolate cases of Covid-19, which are essential to slow the spread of the pandemic”, said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides in a statement. She added that “screening will remain fundamental in the coming months, even if we intend to start deploying our vaccines in the European Union from 27 December”.
See recommendation: https://bit.ly/3p9Ivxj (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)