More Free COVID Tests Made Available From the Government

Americans can now order more COVID tests via mail, all at no cost, via the United States government.

The Associated Press reported that the government is offering free at-home virus tests to try and get ahead of what will likely be a surge in cases during the holiday season. They are encouraging all Americans to take advantage of this offer.

Those who did not order a batch of four free COVID tests in September can “secure up to eight of them this time around.” The test ordering site offers four tests per household, but those who did not order in September can place two orders now for a total of eight tests per household.

To secure these tests, Americans can sign up at COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Postal Service will deliver them at no cost.

Rapid tests ordered this week will begin shipping out the week of Nov. 27. Before throwing out tests past their expiration dates, the FDA recommends visiting this page to see if expiration dates have been extended.

These free tests come on the heels of insurers no longer being required to cover their costs. Last spring, the federal government stopped requiring insurance companies to cover eight monthly tests. According to an analysis by the nonprofit health research firm KFF, “at-home tests now cost $11 out of pocket” on average.

The website where free at-home tests can be ordered has been available since winter 2022. During that time, the Omicron variant of the disease was driving cases up across the country. Each year, the winter also brings back a resurgence of COVID cases. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Health officials are anticipating a similar number of hospitalizations this year as they saw last year, which topped nearly 45,000 per week at its peak.”

“We want them to be able to use those tests during this viral season — fall, winter, respiratory viral season,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said to ABC News.

Dawn O’Connell, the head of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), said, “Manufacturing COVID-19 tests in the United States strengthens our preparedness for the upcoming fall and winter seasons, reduces our reliance on other countries, and provides good jobs to hardworking Americans.”

O’Connell also stated, “We’re going to see families gather with older loved ones and younger loved ones, and it’s important that they can protect their loved ones from COVID as we head into the winter months. So we think opening [COVIDTests.Gov] up right before the winter holidays really kick in is going to be very important for the American people, to provide this access for the free four tests again.”

ABC News reported that about 14.5 million households have ordered tests since September, for a total of 58 million tests shipped thus far.