More free COVID-19 tests soon available by mail, government announces

U.S. households will be able to order up to four COVID-19 nasal swab tests when the federal program reopens, according to the website, COVIDtests.gov. The U.S. Health and Human Services agency that oversees the testing has not announced an exact date for ordering to begin.

The tests will detect current virus strains and can be ordered ahead of the holiday season when family and friends gather for celebrations, an HHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement. Over-the-counter COVID-19 at-home tests typically cost around $11, as of last year.

The announcement also comes as the government is once again urging people to get an updated COVID-19 booster, 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 the recent virus strains and, hopefully, forthcoming winter ones, too. Vaccine uptake is waning, however. Most Americans have some immunity from prior infections or vaccinations, but data shows under a quarter of U.S. adults took last fall’s COVID-19 shot.

The Biden administration has given out 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 tax-payer dollars have been used to develop COVID-19 tests, vaccines and treatments.

Although deaths and serious infections have dropped dramatically since COVID-19 started its U.S. spread in 2020, hospitalizations have started to slightly creep up in recent weeks. In total, more than 1 million Americans have died from the virus.

More on COVID-19:

• New COVID vaccines are here. What to know about 2024–25 shots as summer surge continues
• COVID can cause mental illness—but being vaccinated helps, new study shows
• The summer COVID surge has arrived. Here’s the latest on symptoms and treatment
• Got late-summer travel plans? Here’s where COVID cases are spiking in the U.S.