Biden administration makes at-home Covid tests available totally free again this winter

The Biden administration is making rapid Covid tests available totally free again this winter through a limited round of ordering.

Households can now order a complete of 4 rapid Covid tests totally free at CovidTests.gov. Orders will start shipping next week, just days before families gather for the Christmas holiday, and deliveries will proceed in the next weeks, based on the White House.

The Biden administration shut down the free at-home Covid test program in September because Congress didn’t pass additional funding to replenish the U.S. stockpile.

The White House decided to shift existing money to purchase more tests and relaunch the favored program as Covid cases began increasing again, a senior administration official told reporters during a call Wednesday evening.

“We feel confident that we’re going to have enough tests to get through this next round, 4 per household, in the approaching weeks,” the official said.

The relaunch of the free at-home test program is a component of the Biden administration’s preparedness plan for Covid this winter. Covid infections are increasing again as hospital emergency departments are already battling a surge of patients sick with the flu and respiratory syncytial virus.

The Biden administration will make federal medical teams available to strained hospitals as requested by state governments, the official said. Supplies corresponding to personal protective equipment and ventilators might be pre-prepositioned to be given out to states as needed, the official said.

The administration can also be specializing in increasing vaccination rates in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, which house a few of the people most vulnerable to severe illness from Covid.

The federal government will send out a playbook that calls on nursing homes to maintain all residents up up to now on the vaccines, offer treatment to residents who do catch Covid and take steps to enhance indoor air quality, based on a White House fact sheet.

Health Secretary Xavier Becerra will send a letter to governors, highlighting how vaccination rates in nursing homes of their states compare to others, based on the White House. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may also reach out to jurisdictions with the bottom vaccination rates in nursing homes to remind them of steps they will take to extend coverage.

The federal government can also be calling on hospitals to supply Covid vaccination to patients who’re unvaccinated before they’re discharged.