The federal government has just launched its free website for Americans to order free COVID-19 tests (exactly four per household), fulfilling a promise from the Biden administration that testing at home will be available to every American.
Amid rising Covid numbers due to the highly portable Omicron variant, home tests were difficult to obtain – and expensive when found, with some retailers charging up to $ 50 per test. (Test kits often come with two tests.) Since the CDC recommends testing before they meet at this stage of the pandemic, asking regular Americans to comply with a CDC guideline also required them to carry their own wallets. move.
Therefore, to help meet greater demand and reduce the impact on people’s already hurting bank accounts, the administration has promised that free home tests will be available to Americans free of charge — up to $ 4 billion for the government, according to one senior administration officer.
The new website allows every household in the US to order four Covid tests at home at no cost. These tests are available to anyone, regardless of insurance status.
The government already has at least 420 million tests to order and is under contract for the remaining 80 million tests. Increased demand has meant that test manufacturers like Abbot Labs are working hard to increase their output. “We’re seeing an unprecedented demand,” said Abbott’s director of public affairs for rapid diagnostics, John Koval told NBC News., “And we send them out as fast as we can make them. Despite public health education during the summer that caused the market for rapid tests to tumble, we never stopped testing. ”
How to order your four free COVID-19 tests:
- Start now, January 18, visit COVIDtests.gov to order your four free tests per household.
- Go to COVIDtests.gov to order our tests.
- Follow the link “Order free home tests”.
- Enter your name and address, as well as your email, on the website and confirm your order, 100% free.
- Check your email to confirm your order.
- Tests will be sent between 7 and 12 days from when the order is placed, or by “late January” as the website says.
The Biden administration takes further steps
According to a White House statement, the administration is taking steps to ensure that high-risk communities are not overlooked when free home tests become available, including “prioritizing the processing of orders to households experiencing the greatest social vulnerability and in communities” which is a disproportionate proportion of COVID-19 cases and deaths, especially during this Omicron boom; and, together with national and local organizations with in-depth experience in the service of colored communities, people living with disabilities, and other high-risk communities to serve as navigators, raise awareness of the program and assist people in making requests in to serve, ”the White House said in a state statementt.
They will also launch tens of thousands more COVID-19 test sites nationwide.
The launch of the free home testing program comes at an important time. Covid numbers have increased nationwide as children return to public schools after the winter holidays, and many people have let their guards down when it comes to masking and social distance, tired of two years of Covid protocols and the change of quarantine and isolation management of the CDC. And while access to free home tests is undoubtedly a boon for many, it does not deny the real need for vaccination and vaccine boosters. Experts agree that vaccinated individuals manifest less severe symptoms as those who abandoned vaccination, and with hospitals reaching capacity again, vaccination has become more critical than ever.
