Following a summer uptick of COVID-19 infections, Americans will soon be able to order free COVID-19 tests this fall.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has not yet provided an official date that the nasal swab tests will be available, but says kits should be ready to order by the end of September. The initiative is rolling out ahead of the holiday season, when colds, flus and other illnesses become more common.
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Households will be able to obtain four free antigen COVID-19 tests by visiting COVIDtests.gov, a repeat of the 2023 program. And the department says that these tests will be able to “detect current COVID-19 variants and can be used through the end of the year,” according to its website.
The latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that test positivity for COVID-19 stood at 14.9%, a decrease from the 17.8% high reached in August, though that number is still elevated. By comparison, in May, positivity hovered around 3-4%.
On Monday, the website to order the tests appeared to be down due to “too much traffic or a configuration error.”
In 2023, 900 million COVID-10 tests went out to Americans through the program, according to U.S. Health and Human Services.
Last month, U.S. regulators approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine that seeks to combat the KP variant strain,thepredominant variant that has been circulating. Individuals as young as 6 months will be eligible to receive the shot.
“Vaccination continues to be the cornerstone of COVID-19 prevention,” Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research said in a press release. “Given waning immunity of the population from previous exposure to the virus and from prior vaccination, we strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants.”