Biden Administration Announces The Return Of Free At-Home Covid-19 Tests – How To Get Yours

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), announced that free at-home Covid-19 tests will once again be offered to American households nationwide.

Since January 2022, the website COVIDtest.gov has offered to send free test kits to households across the country. In June, the site stopped in order to conserve test supply, but on September 25 COVIDtest.gov will resume the program, and by request, households can expect to receive up to four free at-home tests.

Since the U.S. Government ended the public health emergency in May, the price of traditional lab PCR tests has become more expensive and less accessible for many Americans. Covid-19 hospitalizations have increased steadily since July. With over 20,000 hospital admissions as of the week of September 9, the new variants of the virus are more contagious for people who have previously been infected with Covid-19. The Biden Administration has confirmed that current tests will detect all the new variants.

The Biden administration also announced on Wednesday that $600 million will be provided in order to strengthen test manufacturing at 12 COVID-19 manufacturing departments in the country. This is expected to secure roughly 200 million over-the-counter tests that will replenish the federal stockpiles for government use, in addition to enough tests to meet the online demand.

In the four previous order cycles, ASPR and USPS distributed over 755 million free tests to households all throughout the nation. With 500 million tests distributed to date through various channels, ASPRs continue to provide free Covid-19 tests to long-term care facilities, low-income senior housing, uninsured individuals, and underserved populations.

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.”