Pictured on January 11, 2022, COVID-19 self-testing kits are provided by the District of Columbia government, which is providing 4 free home tests per day to city residents.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
The Biden administration is making free Covid rapid tests available again this winter in a limited order round.
Households can now order a complete of 4 Covid rapid tests free of charge at CovidTests.gov. In keeping with the White House, orders will begin next week, days before the family gathering for Christmas, and deliveries will proceed in the next weeks.
The Biden administration shut down the free Covid home testing program in September because Congress failed to offer additional funds to replenish U.S. supplies.
The White House has decided to shift existing money to purchase more tests and restart a preferred program as Covid cases have began to rise again, a senior administration official told reporters during a phone call Wednesday evening.
“We’re confident that we’ll have enough tests in the approaching weeks to get through the subsequent round, 4 per household,” the official said.
Relaunching the free home testing program is a part of the Biden administration’s Covid preparedness plan this winter. Covid infections are on the rise again as hospital emergency departments are already battling a wave of flu and respiratory syncytial virus patients.
The official said the Biden administration would make federal medical teams available to overburdened hospitals as requested by state governments. Supplies akin to personal protective equipment and ventilators can be pre-stocked for distribution to states as needed, the official said.
The administration is also focused on increasing vaccination rates in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, which house a number of the people most liable to severe Covid disease.
In keeping with the White House factsheet, the federal government can be sending out an advisory urging nursing homes to tell all residents about vaccines, offer treatment to residents who catch Covid, and take steps to enhance indoor air quality.
Health Secretary Xavier Becerra will send a letter to governors highlighting how their states’ nursing home vaccination rates compare to others, in keeping with the White House. Medicare and Medicaid service centers may also contact jurisdictions with the bottom nursing home vaccination rates to remind them of steps they’ll take to extend coverage.
The federal government is also calling on hospitals to supply Covid vaccines to patients who usually are not vaccinated before they’re discharged.