Almost $160 million worth of rapid antigen tests (Rats) bought during the Covid-19 pandemic is set to be wasted if Te Whatu Ora - Health New Zealand doesn’t find a way to re-purpose or recycle them.

It’s prompted a hurry-up from Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall directed at Te Whatu Ora after officials were asked months ago to develop options for the future use of leftover tests.

But a solution hasn’t yet been decided on.

In response to a written parliamentary question from Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden, Verrall said as of June 12, Te Whatu Ora had possession of 1,830,758 expired Rats in its central stores and a further 16,008,766 that would not be dispatched as they were nearing expiry.

The total value of the roughly 18 million tests was $158,141,393 - about $9 per test.

Verrall told the Herald Te Whatu Ora needs “to get on with it”, but she said she hadn’t set a timeline for when a solution should be found.

“I‘ve set an expectation that yes, they need to get on with it because there’s a cost of storage as well.”

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall says Te Whatu Ora needs to get on with finding alternative uses for Rats that are expired or are soon to expire. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Van Velden, also Act’s health spokeswoman, believed the potential waste was on an “extraordinary scale”.

“This is taxpayers’ money down the drain,” she said.

“Imagine if this $158 million was actually spent on improving health services for Kiwis?”

In a statement provided on Friday, a Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said large quantities of Rats were first purchased in late 2021 and early 2022 during the Delta outbreak and in preparation for the new strain that became Omicron.

Supply and demand were based on projected impact assessments for Omicron, in addition to “the context of significant global supply chain constraints, including logistics and production timeframes”.

The spokesperson noted Government policy at the time advised that Rats would become an “integral way to test people” at home, work, testing centres and for asymptomatic close contacts and border workers.

“Ensuring compliance with Covid-19 pandemic response settings while supporting New Zealand to be able to reopen and remove mandates had a strong influence on quantities purchased,” they said.

 “However, managing the supply of such large quantities of stock and ensuring supply was always available meant there was a risk of having excess stock.

“As policy settings, Border Orders and other testing requirements have changed over time, demand has reduced but planning and consideration has been given to how wastage can be minimised.”

Rapid antigen tests gave people much quicker results than PCR testing. Photo / Warren Buckland

Various measures were employed to limit test expiration, including using a first-in, first-out rotation system, deferring orders and offering tests to other jurisdictions.

The spokesperson said Te Whatu Ora was “actively scanning the market” for ways to promote “re-purposing, alternative uses or recycling” of the tests.

Te Whatu Ora could not provide any examples of solutions it was considering.

Verrall said she had discussed the future use of expired tests with officials since she became Health Minister in February.

She said she hadn’t been advised how likely it was any of the $158m could be recovered through re-purposing or recycling the tests.

“I’m confident they’re working on it,” she said of Te Whatu Ora.

Asked if she was comfortable with about 18 million tests going unused, Verrall said minimising waste in the health system was always a priority, but also said uncertainties surrounding global supplies made it necessary to purchase large orders.

“When the Rats were purchased, there was a global shortage and no crystal ball to know how much we would need - and it was important that we were prepared for a variety of different possibilities.

“While we don’t like to see resources put to waste in the health system... overall, we had to take an approach of preparedness to parts of the pandemic response and ultimately, the response was successful in terms of the number of lives saved.”

She said the same approach was used with respect to purchasing stocks of vaccines and personal protective equipment (PPE). Verrall said she didn’t know how much PPE the Government bought had degraded and had not been used.

Verrall expected Te Whatu Ora to comprehensively canvas what options were available regarding the leftover tests.

“My expectation is that they dispose of them responsibly, which includes both the environmental impacts and the financial cost.”

Van Velden claimed New Zealanders were paying for the “incompetence” of Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who was the Covid-19 Response Minister at the time the purchases were made.

“It is another reminder of how the Government lost all sight of responsible spending during the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

“They have the dual honour of coming last in the RAT race when it came to getting them into the country, and last when it comes to getting value for money.”

In late 2021 and early 2022, businesses attempted to import RATs into the country to assist with detecting Covid-19 in the workplace during a time when PCR testing was preferred by the Government and RAT testing hadn’t yet been approved for use in New Zealand.

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.