Ireland will receive its first allocation of antigen tests from the European Commission in the first quarter of this year, according to the HSE.
The European Commission signed a contract with Abbott and Roche allowing the purchase of over 20 million rapid antigen tests at a cost of €100 million.
It is recommended that EU countries use antigen tests in certain situations and settings, such as diagnoses among symptomatic cases, contacts of confirmed cases, outbreak clusters, screening in high-risk areas and closed settings.
The Commission also recommends using rapid antigen tests for population-wide screening in epidemiological situations or areas where the proportion of test positivity is very high.