Following a surge in COVID-19 cases this summer, Americans will be able to receive free virus testing kits mailed to their homes, starting in late September.
U.S. households will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens, according to the COVIDtests.gov website. The U.S. Health and Human Services agency that oversees the testing has not announced an exact date for when orders will begin.
The tests will detect current strains of the virus and can be ordered ahead of the holiday season, when family and friends gather to celebrate, an HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement. At-home COVID-19 tests sold over the counter typically cost about $11. Since last year.
The announcement also comes as the government again urges people to get an updated COVID-19 booster dose, ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus season. Earlier this week, U.S. regulators approved An updated COVID-19 vaccine that is designed to combat recent strains of the virus and hopefully those of next winter as well. But vaccine acceptance is declining. Most Americans have some immunity from previous infections or vaccinations, but data show that less than a quarter of American adults were vaccinated against COVID-19 last fall.
The Biden administration has distributed 1.8 billion COVID-19 tests, including half distributed to households by mail. It’s unclear how many tests the feds have on hand.
Tens of billions of taxpayer dollars have been used to develop COVID-19 tests, vaccines and treatments.
Although deaths and severe infections have declined dramatically since COVID-19 began spreading in the United States in 2020, hospitalizations have begun to rise. crawl slightly In recent weeks, more than a million Americans have died from the virus.
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