The government said the tests will “detect current COVID-19 variants and can be used through the end of the year.”
In response to a summertime resurgence in COVID-19 cases and in preparation for the upcoming respiratory virus season, the federal government is set to reinstate its free at-home testing program in late September.1 The initiative was previously paused in March due to declining case numbers following the winter respiratory season.
Rapid test device for COVID-19 / Thaut Images - stock.adobe.com
The government said the tests will “detect current COVID-19 variants and can be used through the end of the year.”2 US households will be eligible to order 4 free COVID-19 tests at COVIDTests.gov when the program resumes.
Key Takeaways
"As families start to move indoors this fall and begin spending time with their loved ones, both very old and very young, they will once again have the opportunity to order up to 4 new COVID-19 tests free of charge and have them sent directly to their homes," said Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, in an ABC News report.1 "These tests will help keep families and their loved ones safe this fall and winter season."
In July, the CDC estimated that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 45 states and territories.3 The currently dominant SARS-CoV-2 subvariant is the FLiRT variant, which according to Andew Pekosz, PhD, professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in a Q&A published on the university’s website, encompasses “a whole family of variants—including KP.2, JN. 1.7, and any other variants with KP or KN—that appear to have independently picked up the same set of mutations.”4
And although hospitalizations and deaths haven’t seen a rise proportionate to cases, health officials continue to emphasize the importance of COVID-19 vaccination. A major concern, however, is the effectiveness of current vaccines against emerging variants.
Addressing this, the FDA recently approved and granted emergency use authorization for updated COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer to include a monovalent component targeting the KP.2 variant. The agency assured in a news release that the formulations now “more closely target currently circulating variants and provide better protection against serious consequences of COVID-19.”5
READ MORE: COVID-19: FDA Approves, Grants EUA to Moderna, Pfizer 2024-2025 Vaccine Formulations
Further, the CDC advised on June 27, 2024, that all individuals aged 6 months and older should receive the updated 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine alongside their annual flu shot, regardless of previous vaccination status.6 This year marks the first season where the COVID-19 vaccines are going to be available when or very soon after the flu vaccine is available.
“While the COVID virus continues to mutate and change and change faster than the flu virus, our underlying immunity from prior vaccines and prior infections provides some protection,” said Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC, in a news article from The Hill.7 “But we know that protection decreases over time, and certain groups continue to be at higher risk from COVID and other viruses, and we need to continue to protect ourselves and our loved ones.”
The Department of Health and Human Services' at-home COVID test program launched in January 2022 and initially allowed 4 free tests per residential address. This is the seventh time over the past 3 years the administration has made free tests available for all Americans, due to the rise and ebb of COVID-19 cases.7
More than 1.8 billion COVID tests have been distributed through COVIDTests.gov and its direct affiliates since the pandemic began.8 But since the end of the public health emergency in May 2023, many insurers no longer cover the cost of COVID tests.
However, the Biden administration has remained committed to ensuring people can still get tested and protect others from the virus.
In addition to free tests, O’Connell said that the antiviral Paxlovid will be available for free for those on Medicare and Medicaid, and for those who are uninsured, until the end of 2024.7 What’s more, Pfizer will continue to offer a patient assistance program from 2025 to 2028 for people who are uninsured or underinsured. The pharmaceutical company will also run a copay assistance program for individuals with commercial insurance through 2029.
The government has not included an exact date of when COVID-19 tests will be available for order.
READ MORE: COVID-19 Resource Center
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