4 free covid tests to be available, federal department says
A program that previously mailed free covid tests to households across the country will restart on Monday, allowing people to order another set of at-home tests for free, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
“Beginning Sept. 25, every U.S. household can again place an order to receive four more free covid-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home,” an online alert announced.
Shipping for this round of tests through the COVIDTests.gov program will begin the week of Oct. 2, according to the USPS website.
The move comes as covid cases are on the rise, and as a new vaccine update becomes available to patients through pharmacies in order to more accurately target new variants. In Allegheny County, reported cases have risen from 70 infections in mid-June to 694 infections in the first week of September.
The covid test mailing program, which began in January 2022, previously allowed households to order free covid tests to be sent in the mail to their home.
Its shutdown was announced at the end of May of this year with the closing of the public health emergency.
The COVIDtests.gov program had distributed over 755 million covid tests directly to more than two-thirds of American households, the Department of Health and Human Services said. About 310 million of those tests went to households in underserved communities.
A link provided on the Health and Human Services site site notes that some at-home covid tests have had their printed expiration dates extended, and encourages people to check for their brand and lot number for clarification.
Julia Maruca is a TribLive reporter covering health and the Greensburg and Hempfield areas. She joined the Trib in 2022 after working at the Butler Eagle covering southwestern Butler County. She can be reached at jmaruca@triblive.com.
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