U.S. Government to Resume Free At-Home COVID-19 Test Distribution in Late September

In response to a recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, the Biden administration announced on Friday that it will once again provide free at-home COVID-19 tests to American households starting in late September. This initiative comes as the virus has been gaining a stronger foothold across the U.S. during the summer months.

Americans will be able to request up to four free tests through the government’s website, COVIDtests.gov, according to administration officials who briefed reporters. These tests are designed to detect the currently circulating COVID-19 variants, most of which are descendants of the highly contagious Omicron variant, specifically JN.1.

Dawn O’Connell, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services, emphasized the importance of these tests in keeping families safe during the fall and winter seasons. “This is the seventh time over the last three years that the Biden-Harris administration has given families the opportunity to order the over-the-counter Covid-19 tests for free,” she said.

Since the program’s inception in 2021, the government has distributed more than 1.8 billion free over-the-counter COVID-19 tests to Americans. The decision to relaunch the program comes as the U.S. experiences a significant spike in COVID-19 cases, particularly ahead of the fall and winter seasons when the virus tends to spread more rapidly. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that there is a “high” or “very high” level of COVID-19 being detected in wastewater across almost every U.S. state.

David Boucher, Director of Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response at HHS, explained that the timing of the program’s relaunch is strategic. “As people start to travel, as they start to get together with friends and family through the holidays, we want them to have those four tests available to them at that time,” he said.

Additionally, by late September, the latest round of COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna will be available at pharmacies, health clinics, and other locations nationwide. These updated vaccines target a JN.1 offshoot called KP.2 and were approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday.