Free COVID-19 tests available again – Times News Online

Published on September 27, 2024, 2:45 p.m

Free COVID-19 tests are available again from the federal government.

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Postal Service will offer the testing through COVIDtests.gov.

The initiative, launched on Wednesday, allows US households to order four tests for free. The tests can detect COVID-19 variants currently circulating and provide clear instructions for checking extended expiration dates for over-the-counter tests.

“The reopening of this popular program is the latest step by the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure that over-the-counter COVID-19 testing is available to everyone who wants it this fall and winter,” said Dawn O., acting secretary of the HHS Preparedness and Response “Connell. “Before you visit your family and friends this holiday season, take a rapid test and help protect them from COVID-19.”

Available tests include one that is more accessible to people with disabilities that affect their dexterity or to those who are blind or have low vision.

This round of orders follows six previous opportunities to receive free over-the-counter COVID-19 testing through the program. Since the program began in winter 2021, more than 900 million free tests have been distributed to American households.

The effort complements the government’s ongoing distribution of free COVID-19 testing to long-term care facilities, low-income senior housing, aging and disability networks, and other community organizations. To date, more than 1 billion over-the-counter tests have been made available through the Community Access Program.

In addition to working with the Postal Service to order and distribute free COVID-19 tests, the government previously invested approximately $600 million in 12 domestic COVID-19 test manufacturers to bolster the country’s capacity to produce the tests and reduce dependence on overseas manufacturing. and to improve preparedness for COVID-19 and other pandemic threats.

To order four free, over-the-counter COVID-19 tests, visit COVIDtests.gov. To order tests that are more accessible to people with disabilities, visit ACL.gov/AccessibleTests.