Moodie's Pharmacy in Howick Street and Forbutt's Pharmacy in Keppel Street both told the Western Advocate on Wednesday that they did not have any of the rapid antigen tests (which can be used to conduct a COVID test at home) in stock due to strong demand.

The federal Department of Health says rapid antigen tests use a nasal swab or saliva sample to test for the presence of the virus that causes COVID-19 and results are usually available within 20 minutes.

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It says those who get a positive result from a rapid antigen test should then visit a COVID testing site for a traditional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.

Moodie's pharmacist and proprietor Paul Jones said they had sold out of the tests on Monday.

He said more had been ordered last week, and he had been told the pharmacy would have them by the end of the week, but there were no guarantees.

"We are taking a list of names and numbers [of customers wanting the tests] and we will ring people and let them know when they are here," he said.

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With the Omicron variant coming to Australia and COVID numbers rising in the state, Mr Jones said people were wanting to take precautions in the lead-up to December 25.

"No-one wants to be self-isolating for Christmas," he said.

Forbutt's Pharmacy pharmacist Sam Forbutt said the rapid antigen tests had been "extremely popular".

"We did not expect it to be this popular and we had plenty in stock last week, but, all of a sudden, at the end of last week, people started buying up big," he said.

He said the pharmacy is expecting more stock today (Thursday) and Friday.

Mr Forbutt said people were wanting to have peace of mind if they were travelling and seeing elderly relatives.

"They want to know that they can enjoy Christmas without having COVID in the back of their mind," he said.