The Biden administration, preparing for a possible winter surge of COVID-19, announced last week that it would revive its program offering Americans free coronavirus tests through the mail and would spend $600 million to buy tests from a dozen domestic manufacturers.
“These critical investments in U.S. manufacturing will improve preparedness for COVID-19 and other pandemic threats of the future, strengthen the nation’s capacity to manufacture tests, and secure approximately 200 million new over-the-counter COVID-19 tests for future federal government use,” a release from the Department of Health and Human Services read.
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The announcement last week came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all Americans 6 months and older receive at least one dose of the reformulated COVID vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
How to get free COVID tests from the government
The website for the program, covidtests.gov, will begin accepting orders on Monday. Households can receive as many as four no-cost tests, delivered for free by the United States Postal Service, which will begin shipping the tests the week of Oct. 2.
Do the free rapid tests detect new variants?
Yes, according to the the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
“These tests will detect the currently circulating COVID-19 variants, are intended for use through the end of 2023, and will include clear instructions on how to verify extended expiration dates,” the release from HHS explained.
Free at-home COVID tests from the Biden administration return
The Biden administration first began offering free at-home coronavirus tests in early 2022 after the Omicron variant caused cases to soar. Over 600 million tests were distributed before the program was halted late that summer. The administration resumed offering tests late last year before halting the program again this spring.
The program resumes once more as coronavirus hospitalizations have been on the rise in the United States, due in part to the emergence of new variants including XBB.1.5 and EG.5.
The Biden administration’s investment of $600 million will fund the purchase of 200 million tests to replenish the nation’s stockpile.
“The Biden-Harris Administration, in partnership with domestic manufacturers, has made great strides in addressing vulnerabilities in the U.S. supply chain by reducing our reliance on overseas manufacturing,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “These critical investments will strengthen our nation’s production levels of domestic at-home COVID-19 rapid tests and help mitigate the spread of the virus.”