Global healthcare company Abbott announced it had received authorisation from the health ministry’s Department of Medical Equipment and Construction to sell its Panbio COVID-19 Antigen Self-Test to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Viet Nam.
With this approval, Abbott brings a non-prescription, rapid antigen nasal self-test to Viet Nam for use in people with or without symptoms, including infants with an adult’s support.
"To protect public health, we need to remain vigilant in identifying and slowing the spread of the virus through frequent testing even with vaccinations," said Sanjeev Johar, divisional vice president for Abbott's rapid diagnostics business in the Asia-Pacific region.
"With authorisation for the Panbio Self-Test, we can get these rapid tests into the communities that need them to enable testing at home, school and work to identify active infections."
The Panbio self-test is fast and easy to use. People need to perform a minimally invasive nasal swab and a few additional steps following the instructions for use. An adult should supervise children under 14. The test provides results in 15 minutes, and no instruments are required.
Panbio COVID-19 Antigen is one of the most widely studied and used rapid antigen tests globally. In clinical evaluations with self-test users, the test correctly identified 95.2 per cent of positive samples and 100 per cent of negative samples. All samples were confirmed positive or negative by the Panbio COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Device (Nasopharyngeal).
In addition to the Panbio COVID-19 Self-Test, Abbott also offers the Panbio COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Device for professional use, which is CE-Marked and has received World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing.
To date, Abbott has introduced 12 different COVID-19 tests to work in various settings and stages of infection, including the fastest molecular point of care platform, lab-based molecular and serology tests, professional rapid antigen tests and self-tests.
Frequent rapid testing at work, school, home and other facilities makes it possible for people to know their infection status when it matters most – making frequent screening an essential tool in mitigating COVID-19.
According to a recent study published in JAMA, at least 50 per cent of COVID-19 infections are estimated to have originated from exposure to asymptomatic individuals. — VNS