The British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing said health staff should come first for tests to ease staffing issues.
The Department for Health and Social Care said the NHS has "additional stock of lateral flow tests" and stressed people who "live or work in vulnerable settings have access to dedicated testing order routes".
On Wednesday, the UKHSA said people should keep checking online. It added that eight million lateral flow tests will be made available to pharmacies by New Year's Eve - Friday.informing staff they would be ordering the tests from the UK government website, which is also used by the general public. General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, echoed this call, arguing it was vital staff have access to tests to protect themselves and their patients.
Some trusts reported current staffing problems were leading to significant numbers of ambulances off the road, he added. Latest data showed 18,829 staff at NHS acute trusts in England were off work due to Covid, either through sickness or self-isolation, on 19 December. Figures for more recent days are due to be released on Friday.
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