renew: The program is over and free testing is not available from government websites.
As New COVID-19 variant case tick up Throughout the United States, the federal government once again provides Americans with at-home COVID-19 Test Kit. Individuals and families can start ordering test kits later this month and after the Covid-19 case amid the summer wave.
Biden gives medicine Restart the same program Last fall, after a brief pause to save on test supplies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is responsible for the program, has begun accepting orders through the Covidtests.gov website.
After the order is placed, the U.S. Postal Service ships the test kit directly to people’s homes.
American families will be allowed to order up to four test kits separately. According to HHS, the over-the-counter kit detects current Covid-19 variants and can be used by the end of the year. They are expected to start shipping on September 30 and are designed to offer home testing options before the holidays, when families often travel to Thanksgiving, Christmas and other celebrations.
The program’s website encourages people to check test expiration dates based on the latest FDA guidance on the shelf life of testing. Some test suites with expiration dates are printed out in the past and may actually still lead to accurate results.
HHS encourages testing for Covid-19 so that people infected with the virus can seek treatment, self-isolate or take other steps, such as wearing a mask, to avoid infecting others. To date, the federal program has distributed more than 900 million tests to U.S. households.
These tests can be expensive when purchasing over-the-counter medications at pharmacies across the United States, which is unaffordable for many families. For example, the two packs of binaxnow covid-19 antigen self-test from Abbott costs $18.99.
Other government efforts aimed at stopping the spread of the virus include a new vaccination program. The government encourages residents to get updated Covid-19 booster shots in preparation for the fall and winter respiratory virus season.
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration approved Updated COVID-19 vaccine formula From Pfizer and Hyundai, currently managed in pharmacies nationwide. The FDA then authorized Novavax’s new protein-based Covid-19 vaccine, which is also available for patients.
